In a truly stunning turn of events, the Bruins-Hurricanes first-round playoff series has taken on serious NBA playoff vibes with the home team winning every game so far. Home ice is supposed to be mostly irrelevant in the NHL playoffs but that has been far from the case in this matchup. This afternoon at TD Garden, Boston celebrated Mother's Day by rallying twice and using a brilliant playoff career-best five point (2 goals, 3 assist) performance by star left wing Brad Marchand to take Game 4 by a score of 5-2. After looking dead in the water following losses in Games 1 & 2 at Carolina, the B's evened the series 2-2 with Game 5 set for Tuesday (7, NESN) back in Raleigh, NC.
What made this victory quite impressive was that Boston survived without their top two defensemen: Hampus Lindholm (still recovering from that Game 2 concussion) and Charlie McAvoy (put in Covid protocol this morning). This meant that the immortal Josh Brown (-2) played 12:52 in an important playoff game and his team still managed to win despite the fact that he doesn't belong in the NHL. The Hurricanes looked so good in the first two games and the Bruins answered the bell to survive the must-win Game 3 but if Boston wins this series, we will likely look back on Game 4 as a big turning point. Today was when Carolina started to crumble, led by bozo defenseman Tony DeAngelo who jawed with Marchand all day and ended his outing by tossing his stick as Brad scored an empty-netter to make it 5-2 with 35 seconds left in regulation.
For the fourth straight game, the Canes scored first as UNH defenseman Brett Pesce skated free in the slot and took a pass from forward Max Domi that he whipped past B's goaltender Jeremy Swayman (24 saves) for his first goal of the playoffs. Center Eric Staal had the second assist on opening tally which came at 14:06 of the first period. That lead was very short-lived though as Bruins captain and center Patrice Bergeron tied it with a backhander at 16:09. His third goal of the series was assisted by Marchand and right wing David Pastrnak.
Carolina quickly regained the lead in the second period as Staal one-timed a sweet backhand pass from behind the net by right wing Nino Niederreiter. That made it 2-1 in favor of the Hurricanes 33 seconds into the frame with DeAngelo picking up the second assist (his 5th of the series). Things started to go Boston's way from there beginning with a fortuitous call: left wing Jake DeBrusk tied it at two with a power play goal at 18:44 of the second period. DeBrusk's first goal of the postseason was assisted by Marchand and Bergeron. It appeared like Jake pushed Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta's (23 saves) pad before knocking the puck in through a maze of bodies. Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour challenged the play but lost it which sent the home team right back on the power play.
Marchand made the Hurricanes pay as he ripped a wrist shot over Raanta's glove 44 seconds into the third period. It was a 5-on-3 after Bergy had taken a high stick right above his eye from Canes center Sebastian Aho that made him bleed like an ECW wrestler in the late 90s. That gave Boston its first lead of the contest at 3-2 with center Charlie Coyle and DeBrusk picking up the assists on Marchand's second goal of the series. Pasta put it out of reach with a tap-in from a gorgeous cross-ice feed by Marchand that made it 4-2 Bruins at 5:41. Bergeron had the other helper on Pastrnak's second goal of the series. A great stat about the reunited perfection line: Boston is now 6-0 all-time in the postseason when those three guys record multiple points in the same game.
If you believe in momentum in the NHL playoffs, the B's certainly have it at this moment. Remember though, Carolina has home ice advantage so Boston will have to win a game there to advance past this round. For that reason, Game 5 seems like a lovely time to shift this narrative and show that they can also win on the road in a tough environment full of liquored up rednecks. It will be Swayman's first playoff start away from the Garden but I never worry much about him. I realize that Linus Ullmark played better than him down the stretch in the regular season but I still think that the rookie should have started in Games 1 & 2 (not that it would have mattered with how poorly the entire team performed) just like he should have started last postseason with Tuukka Rask falling apart but I digress. All the pressure has shifted to the Hurricanes as they contemplate getting eliminated by the B's for the third time in the last four postseasons. For these reasons and more, Game 5 should be a doozy and it's not a stretch to say that whomever wins that one will probably capture the series as well.
