1. Aggressive Forecheck
This was mentioned in the Keys to Game 1, the Tampa Bay Lightning picked the Bruins apart piece by piece with an aggressive forecheck. Tampa Bay would hold onto the puck, dominate possession, and make passes until the Bruin defenders lost energy or made a mistake and they would strike.
We witnessed what the Hurricanes did to the Bruins in the second period of Game 1. They dominated the Bruins, their forecheck was ruthless. They almost scored shorthanded and the Hurricanes would get the tie-breaking goal, to gain the lead. The Hurricanes led 15-10 in shots on goal. The crowd was silent.
The Hurricanes will need to be all over the Bruins in Game 3 and it needs to be consistent. If the Hurricanes can keep the Bruins in their zone, the Bruins will not have the energy to defend, they’ll break from fatigue. If the forecheck is consistent, you can expect bad line changes from the Bruin from exhaustion.
The forecheck all starts from Carolina’s back-end, good defensive-to-offense transitions are required from them. Evidence proves from all of Stanley Cup Playoff hockey and from the home games of the past series, forechecking keeps the fans standing and loud, this will keep the crowd on fire, which the Hurricanes have fed off of.