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Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys To Success in Beantown

By Matthew Nidiffer |
RALEIGH, NC - MAY 16: Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes looks to gain control of a puck along the boards at Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins defends in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Third Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - MAY 16: Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes looks to gain control of a puck along the boards at Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins defends in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Third Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
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RALEIGH, NC – MAY 16: Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes looks to gain control of a puck along the boards at Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins defends in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Third Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – MAY 16: Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes looks to gain control of a puck along the boards at Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins defends in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Third Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Carolina Hurricanes make their way up to Boston tonight to try and wrestle a few points away from David Pastrnak and the league-leading Bruins.

The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t beaten the Boston Bruins since December 23rd, 2018. After dropping two of their three games in the 2018-19 season, and suffering a sweep against the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes look to turn the record against the Boston Bruins around tonight.

Boston has been on fire lately, to say the least. David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Patrice Bergeron (among others) have managed to pull the Bruins to 1st overall in the league standings, with 43 points. The Carolina Hurricanes currently sit at 9th overall, with 33 points.

The Boston Bruins are also on a seven-game winning streak. Tonight’s game is sure to be a physical one; Carolina vs. Boston is always a hard-hitting, old-time hockey type of matchup.

If the Carolina Hurricanes hope to escape Boston with two points in hand, they’ll need to stay out of the penalty box, tighten up defensively, and play a full 60-minute game.

If they can do all of these things, they should be able to put up quite a fight. However, with the way things have been going lately, if they fail to do one, they could very well find themselves in another uphill battle. Let’s dive in a bit more in-depth, shall we?

OTTAWA, ON – NOVEMBER 9: Colin White #36 of the Ottawa Senators is tripped on a scoring chance by Warren Foegele #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes leading to a penalty at Canadian Tire Centre on November 9, 2019 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON – NOVEMBER 9: Colin White #36 of the Ottawa Senators is tripped on a scoring chance by Warren Foegele #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes leading to a penalty at Canadian Tire Centre on November 9, 2019 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images) /

1. Stay Out of the Penalty Box

Before I get into this one, I need to preface it with a bit of a caveat. The Carolina Hurricanes are currently 8th in the league on the penalty kill. Boston is currently 2nd in the league on the powerplay. Do with that what you will.

The Boston Bruins, specifically David Pastrnak, are absolutely lethal on the powerplay this season. Of Pastrnak’s 25 goals this season, 12 have come on the powerplay. They are also lethal shorthanded, so that’ll be something to watch out for on the man advantage as well.

The Carolina Hurricanes absolutely cannot afford to take penalties against the Boston Bruins tonight. To do so repeatedly, as we saw this past weekend against Tampa Bay, will result in nothing less than a loss for the Hurricanes.

The kicker here is to not play into the Bruins’ (read: Brad Marchand’s) antics, and ability to get under the opposition’s skin. The agitation that Marchand brings to the ice, and the Carolina Hurricanes’ propensity to feed into it, were a huge reason the Canes were swept in the Conference Finals last season.

The Carolina Hurricanes will need to rise above, and play arguably the most disciplined game of their careers tonight in order to give themselves the best chance of winning. Now, onto the defensive side of things.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 27: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Carolina Hurricanes skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 27, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 27: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Carolina Hurricanes skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 27, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

2. Tighten Up Defensively

The Carolina Hurricanes’ defense has been a rollercoaster so far this season. From Dougie Hamilton‘s offensive prowess, to the revolving door that has been the Canes’ third defensive pairing, things have been interesting to say the least.

Some nights, the Carolina Hurricanes look to be absolutely unstoppable in their own zone; other nights, it seems like everyone on the opposition could just walk right past them.

Tonight, every member of the Canes’ defensive corps needs to step up and play lights-out defense in their own zone. Backchecking needs to be on point, defensemen like Edmundson and Gardiner need to limit the amount of times they attempt to pinch up-ice, and 2-on-1 chances coming into their own zone need to be mitigated as much as possible.

As of the writing of this article, no starting goaltender has been announced, but (if you ask me), James Reimer should be the clear-cut choice, especially after his sparkling performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning this past weekend.

Reimer bailed the Hurricanes out countless times during that game, and will more than likely be required to do the same tonight if he is, indeed, named the starter in Boston. The Canes’ defense needs to rise to the occasion and help him out, from start to finish. Speaking of start to finish…

TAMPA, FL – NOVEMBER 30: The Carolina Hurricanes celebrate a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period at Amalie Arena on November 30, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette /NHLI via Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL – NOVEMBER 30: The Carolina Hurricanes celebrate a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period at Amalie Arena on November 30, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette /NHLI via Getty Images) /

3. Play A Full 60 Minutes

The Carolina Hurricanes have been notorious this season for netting a goal or three early on, then sitting back and (more often than not) dealing with the opposition bringing the game to within a goal or two, and even pushing the game into overtime.

That cannot be the case tonight. The Boston Bruins are a hard-hitting team, and will very likely show no quit, even if they go down by a large margin early on.

The Carolina Hurricanes have managed to respond to various team’s physicality after gaining an early lead, but those types of games are few and far between for the Canes so far in 2019-20.

Tonight’s game will not be an easy win, and each and every member of the Carolina Hurricanes are going to have to be on point, and play the game the way Rod Brind’amour has been teaching them to play.

If they can manage to do all three of these things, they should walk out of the TD Garden with two points in hand for the first time in almost a full year. If not, we might be in for another not-so-fun night of watching hockey. Only time will tell, but I’m optimistic about the Canes chances overall, if not a little bit nervous.

RALEIGH, NC – MAY 14: Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (40) looks up ice during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes on May 14, 2019 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – MAY 14: Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (40) looks up ice during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes on May 14, 2019 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Game Notes:

  • Puck Drop: 7:00 PM ET
  • Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
  • TV: Fox Sports Carolina, Fox Sports Sun
  • Radio: 99.9 FM, The Fan
  • Uniform: Road Whites
  • Potential Lines:
    • Svech-Aho-Turbo
    • McGinn-Staal-Foegele
    • Dzingle-Wallmark-Nino
    • Bishop-Martinook
    • Slavin-Hamilton
    • Edmundson-Pesce
    • Gardiner-Fleury
    • TVR
  • Predicted Starting Goaltenders:
    • Hurricanes: James Reimer
    • Bruins: Tuukka Rask

Question for CC Readers: What do you think the Carolina Hurricanes need to do tonight to beat the Boston Bruins?

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