3. Play Carolina Hockey, Not Boston Hockey
Last season’s series against the Bruins fell off the rails hard when even noted Captain and gentleman Justin Williams was caught doing naughty things and penalized for it. That was because noted rodent and troublemaker Brad Marchand managed to get under his skin and into his head.
Let’s not repeat that mistake.
On neutral ice, even during away games, the Carolina Hurricanes can play their own version of the game and control the flow of the game. If they give in the Bruins and their reputation for stirring trouble, especially during the playoffs, then they will be sitting in the penalty box and behind in the score too much for their own like. Just ask Toronto fans.
By the way, welcome to all the new Carolina Hurricanes fans living in Toronto, enjoy the ride.
Back to Carolina Hockey; the Hurricanes need to ensure that they ignore the shenanigans long enough to force the Bruins to make the mistakes that will send them to the box or put them out of positioning and allow for the scoring lanes to open up for Carolina’s star players. Guys like Jaccob Slavin share to give their ability to be patient to the rest of the team.
Again, this is a Bruins team that plays mind games. The Hurricanes need to show them that they should have focused on playing hockey instead. They do that and the Bruins will be regretting it all on the bus ride back to Boston.