Carolina Hurricanes Defeat the Boston Bruins in Overtime

The Carolina Hurricanes kept themselves in the playoff hunt tonight with an overtime thriller against the Boston Bruins.

Scoring Summary:

1st Period

CAR PPG (5:06) Elias Lindholm (9) assisted by Noah Hanifin (12), Riley Nash (10)

On the powerplay, Noah Hanifin found an open Elias Lindholm, who ripped it past Tuuka Rask on his blocker side. Rask was able to get a piece of the shot, but the puck squeaked through trickled over the goal line.

2nd Period

BOS PPG (5:13) Loui Eriksson (25), assisted by Patrice Bergeron (33), Torey Krug (31)

On a Boston power play, Loui Eriksson was set up for a one timer by Patricec Bergeron, and he beat Cam Ward blocker-side.

CAR Goal (8:35) Nathan Gerbe (3) assisted by Chris Terry (1), Riley Nash (11)

Nathan Gerbe crashed the front of the net, and was able to scoop up the rebound from Chris Terry’s shot, and slip it past Rask.

3rd Period

BOS Goal (5:54) David Pastrnak (10), assisted by David Krejci (37)

David Pastrnak short-sided Ward with a shot the Carolina netminder would really like back.

Overtime

CAR Goal (1:30) Phillip Di Giuseppe (5), assisted by Jeff Skinner (17), Noah Hanifin (13)

Wanting to slow down play, and set up a rush, Noah Hanifin passed the puck back to Cam Ward, who then gave it back to Hanifin. The Bruins were caught flat-footed on a bad line-change, leaving a wide-open Jeff Skinner. Skinny’s breakaway attempt was stopped by Rask, but Di Giuseppe was right there to clean up the rebound and tuck it home for the win.

Three Stars

1st Star – (CAR) Phil Di Giuseppe – 1 goal, 2 shots, 1 hit, +1 rating, 16:41 TOI

2nd Star – (CAR) Victor Rask – 1 shot, 1 hit, 16:19 TOI

3rd Star – (BOS) David Pastrnak – 1 goal, 4 shots, 1 hit, 13:37 TOI

Recap:

Another solid performance from the Carolina Hurricanes, led by the Boston-native Noah Hanifin, earned them two points in in the very tight Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Canes got off to a great start in the first period. Elias Lindholm scored on a power play just five minutes into the game, and Cam Ward played well, standing his ground on many Boston chances and keeping them scoreless.

Goals were traded in the second period, which would end with Carolina leading 2-1. The Canes received two penalties early in the period, and gave up a goal by Loui Eriksson on the second one.

Cam Ward gave up a bad short-sided goal in the third period, but shut the door on the Bruins for the remainder of the game. Tuuka Rask was great throughout the third, stopping multiple great chances and keeping the Canes scoreless in the period. It was tied up 2-2 at the end of regulation and this game would head to overtime.

Three-on-three sudden death hockey is really something else. Anything can happen with all of that open ice, and fortunately the Hurricanes were able to strike. Phil Di Giuseppe cashed in on Jeff Skinner’s rebound, and proceeded to perform the celly of the season.

Cam Ward has struggled in his last four games coming into tonight, sporting an .877 SV% throughout that stretch. Tonight was a different story. He had thirty saves in the 3-2 victory, posting a .938 SV%.

Nathan Gerbe’s game has been trending up recently. He scored the Hurricanes’ second goal tonight and almost had another one later in the game, but he was robbed by Rask.

Riley Nash has been putting together a great stretch of hockey of late, tallying two assists tonight.

Jeff Skinner continued his recent dominance, playing a complete game and earning an assist on the game winning goal.

Noah Hanifin, though, was the story. He played arguably the best game of his young career tonight at the TD Garden, getting two assists in the process. He was born in Boston and played his college hockey at Boston College, so playing such a great game here in front of his friends and family (reported to be close to 50!) was surely very special for him.

Hanifin, along with all of the other young Hurricanes’ defensemen, are incredibly good for their age, and really give all Hurricanes fans an optimistic look on the future.

Related Story: Hurricanes Future Is Looking Very Bright

Tonight was a great team win for the Canes. They are now 3-0-1 since the trade deadline and sit just four points out of a wild-card playoff spot with fourteen games left on the schedule. There is no room for error in these remaining games.

The Hurricanes (31-26-11) will face-off against the Buffalo Sabres (27-32-9) Saturday afternoon at the First Niagara Center.