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By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
In the first 120 minutes of their third round, the Hurricanes not only learned that the Bruins are not Islanders, but that they could also be better than the Capitals. And they must now win four matches before the Bruins win two if they want to push their run to Cinderella in a Cup appearance.
… do you mean shit sandwiches?
It should be mentioned that hurricanes are not exactly dead. They found themselves in a similar situation against the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round and eventually won the series in seven games. It should also be mentioned that the Bruins of Bruce Cassidy have a foul odor in the competitions of the third match (they are 0 to 5 in the meetings of the third match since his replacement behind the B bench), and that the Bruins found themselves in a seventh match. time they jumped to a 2-0 series advantage (first round last year against the Maple Leafs). They still have a chance and a half, especially with this series that moves to Raleigh, where Carolina is perfect 5-0 in the playoffs with the rowdy Caniacs on their side.
It's just that it's hard to imagine that this match will become easier for the team of freshman head coach Rod Brind's Love.
Forget the aggressiveness of Petr Mrazek who is exposed full force by the Bruins, who scored 10 goals on 52 shots against Mrazek in this series (a .888 efficiency percentage). Suppose Brind's Love passes to Curtis McElhinney in the third game. Forget about Boston's undersized defense – which only improved with the return of first-timer driver Charlie McAvoy in the second game – simply outclassing Carolina's impressive defense group. Suppose TD Garden no longer haunts Dougie Hamilton and Jaccob Slavin has stopped napping.
Let's just assume that the Hurricanes look like a qualifying team for the playoffs in the third game. They should absolutely consider the aforementioned trends in post-season, as well as the fact that they are here for a reason, is not it? RIGHT?
However, ask yourself: how can the canes slow down the Bruins?
It's a question I've asked myself over and over again in the last four hockey seasons. And I must admit that I go up empty.
Start at the top of Boston's alignment with the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line.
This line has absolutely devoured Carolina to this day. In just 19:58 of five-to-five games in this series, the Black & Gold's passing line controlled possession control at 74.1%, beating the Canes 11-5 and edging 10o. No couple from Carolina even slowed them down, as they set fire to the Slavin-Hamilton couple and the Brett Pesce-Justin Faulk combination. I'm not really sure what the Hurricanes can do to make this game difficult for the Bergeron line. Now, the problem for Carolina on this front is that they have absolutely won the match face to face with the Ovechkin-Backstrom combo in the first run, and that those losses for the Caps stars have finally served the Hurricanes' advantage at the Ovechkin melting. low in front of their eyes. Oh, and the kicker here: The Bergeron line has not yet scored 5 goals against 5 this season, but again, it's not as if that had been causing any Carolina's defense had done the best, and it's Marchand who appears to be melting Carolina to make it taste and make them eat raw sandwiches.
The Boston Trio has also been tasked with removing Sebastian Aho, and that's exactly what he did in the second game. Given what he's already done in the playoffs, from John Tavares to Artemi Panarin, it's hard to imagine Bergeron and Co. a slight modification that canes could bring to the Aho line. This is bad news for a Carolina team that is so desperately desperate that Aho's offensive sets the tone for the team's production every night. It's even worse when you remember how fast Sean Kuraly's line, taken without prisoners, has handled tough clashes this spring.
And finding much of the offensive when Aho is out of the ice has become an urban legend of Carolina.
In two games, only four hurricane strikers scored at least three shots on goal at five to five. The Canes scored two goals on those 12 shots, which is an obvious advantage, but one is the pledge of Tuukka Rask that Tuevo Tervainen agreed in the third period of an obvious blowout, while the Justin Williams' double deviation is the other. Apart from that, Carolina's scorers did not do much, especially the junior heroes, Jordan Staal and Nino Niederreiter, who only managed one goal, three shots. and two penalties in two games.
This is obviously not a recipe for success, especially when the Bruins seem to have something – and something dominant – preparing with a third-line combination representing Charlie Coyle between Marcus Johansson and Danton Heinen.
"The more we play together, the better we feel," said Johansson, who has a goal and four points in less than 28 minutes this series, about the third line of B. "We really trust each other and we know each other more and more each day. "
It's a line that has the best IQ hockey you can find from Langley to Weymouth via Landskrona, and a line with many problems for Carolina's active defense: their ability to expand games, to maximize the space and to involve their teammates. Watch how Johansson has eclipsed Carolina's porous defense for Boston's third goal on Sunday, or how Heinen's other-world board game and smart stick have essentially forced exhausted Justin Williams to win penalty that led Jake DeBrusk to score 2-0. Boston Edge after 20 minutes of play Sunday.
They are an absolute nightmare for the Hurricanes, and a boon for the top of Boston's list.
"I think everyone feels good when everything is fine," admitted DeBrusk, questioned about the production of the range. "Obviously it was our [problem] at the beginning of the year, it was depth, it comes at the right time. "
We did not even mention the Boston powerplay game, which has four power play goals in seven assists for the power play (57.1% absurd pass rate) of this series, or a second line suddenly clicks under the features of David Backes. the presence of the right side alongside David Krejci and DeBrusk. And we probably do not need to give the way the Canes seemed already overwhelmed by what the Black and Gold have done during the first two games of this series.
"I think when we're on our game and we skate, I think we're as good as any other skating team in this league," said Cassidy. "We have physical players in our lineup who can deliver the hits, and we have the Matt Grzelcyk of the world who can bounce on hits that are not known as physical guys who can skate, intelligently, but do not bother him. . " It's going to bounce back, so I think it's going to affect the whole game, and we're going to play it. And hopefully play well if you run. Then it 's about whether you are running? Do you play games at the right time? So skating or physics or both? I think Carolina is both. I think they have a good mix of that.
"We too, so it's a good match."
Who has absolutely favored the Bruins through the first two games of this series.
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