How deep and versatile hurricanes plan to compete with the Bruins

By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com

Do the Hurricanes have enough to compete with the favorite Bruins at the Eastern Conference finals? Their latest line combinations indicate how head coach Rod Brind's Love is preparing his attack.

Cane country Tweeted The hurricane line rushes during testing on Wednesday as they prepare for the first game at TD Garden on Thursday. Regardless of how they deploy their advanced groups, the strategy is self-evident. Here is how they aligned themselves.

Before:

Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastien Aho – Teuvo Teravainen
Nino Niederreiter – Jordan Staal – Justin Williams
Warren Foegele – Lucas Wallmark – Brock McGinn
Jordan Martinook – Greg McKegg – Micheal Ferland

defenders:

Jaccob Slavin – Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce – Justin Faulk
Haydn Fleury – Calvin de Haan

Svech-Aho-Teravainen
Niederreiter-Staal-Williams
Foegele-Wallmark-McGinn
Martinook-McKegg Ferland
Brown, Maenalanen

Same pairs D Goalkeepers in the same places

– x – Country Canes (@CanesCountry) May 8, 2019

Bruins projected lines:

#NHLBruins practice lines:

Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
DeBrusk – Krejci – Backes
Johansson – Coyle – Heinen
Nordstrom – Kuraly – Wagner
Kuhlman

Chara – Clifton
Krug – Carlo
Grzelcyk – Kampfer
Moore – McAvoy

Rask
Halak

– Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 8, 2019

Brind's Love overloads her front line with speed, talent and creativity in attack. Sebastian Aho is their main threat and could be the best player on the ice for the Canes to win this series. He will install the two most talented wing of the team on each side in the dynamic rookie Andrei Svechnikov and the two-way threat Teuvo Teravainen. The latter has the kind of versatility to give any Bruins winger a challenge at both ends of the ice. But it is also likely that you will see that Bruce Cassidy is trying to get the fourth line (Joakim Nordstrom-Sean Kuraly-Chris Wagner) from this trio.

It seems that Brind's Love will almost certainly live up to the Nino Niederreiter-Jordan Staal-Justin Williams group compared to Patrice Bergeron's line. It would be the most convincing match of the series with thirsty veterans of cup and big games. Their best 5-on-5 performance against Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak came with Staal against them in a match all the way back on October 30.

Although the Bruins won the game 3-2 on the strength of two power play goals, the only time they managed to score 5-5, was a low percentage of play. Bergeron battled the puck of Brett Pesce, a more offensive man, and offered Brad Marchand a run he won against Williams. Then Marchand scraped off Scott Darling, an infamous positional loser, for a wraparound goal. The game itself was impressive, but not a reliable approach on a playoff series of seven games.

Overall, the Bruins only tried seven shots against the 16 Hurricanes while Bergeron was playing against Staal. Special teams may not play as important a role in the conference finale as Halloween eve. The Bruins will have to hope for a more efficient performance against Bergeron's 5-on-5 against the tough Hurricanes players. back off.

"It's a team that does not leave you much space, it's very deep and has very good defenders playing the puck," Bergeron told reporters on Wednesday. "I think it will be a series similar to what we've seen up to now in the first two, and as I said, 5-on-5 hockey is a very tight hockey, and they have also big body. [we expect a] physical series and we expect it to be a tough one. "

In the group of the last six, the Canes have two forward groups capable of disrupting David Krejci's line with their physicality and energy. Jordan Martinook, Greg McKegg and Micheal Ferland might even have time against the Bergeron line and that's when things could improve a little bit. Warren Foegele-Lucas Wallmark-Brock McGinn makes perfect sense against Marcus Johansson-Charlie Coyle-Danton Heinen. The potential Battle of the Third Lines ™ has a chance to rock the show as much as any match.

At the back, the Hurricanes' best hope of slowing the Bruins forwards will be the pairing of Jaccob Slavin and ex-Bruin Dougie Hamilton. Who knows what Hamilton we are going to have with the mercurial defender who will face his former team? But Slavin was one of the best full defensemen in the league during the playoffs. He is tied with Seth Jones of the Blue Jackets as a defensive threat and even more than Jake Muzzin of the Maple Leafs.

Their second association Pesce and Justin Faulk will be more dangerous with their puck movement across the neutral zone and around Tuukka Rask's territory than their keen sense of defense. But ultimately, the chances of the Hurricanes in the series may depend on Slavin who controls the game on his side.

The Hurricanes have top skill, intelligence and aggression at the bottom, and versatility everywhere. They have a scoring center, a two-way wing and a defender at the stop. The series could ultimately be advantageous for the Bruins in goal with Rask, but the B's have confrontations ahead of him that should not be overlooked.

It is amazing that anyone does so after witnessing the challenges presented by Toronto and Columbus. The team that beat the Capitals, then swept a team of Islanders who swept the Penguins, should be tough.

Carolina's ability to win these decisive battles will be maintained to keep the Bruins from reaching their first Stanley Cup final since 2013.

Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group or its affiliates. Do you have a hint, a question or a comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or write to him at [email protected].