Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to Taking a Series Lead Against Boston in Game Three

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Bruins in game three at noon.

The Carolina Hurricanes look to take a series lead against Boston with an early win today. Here are the keys to securing game three of the series.

Noon hockey. I hate it. Especially on the weekends. I like to sleep in. Maybe watch some Saturday morning cartoons on Netflix. Feel like a kid again.

Instead, I had to wake up nice and early to make sure I get my coffee in and get ready for this matinee game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Boston Bruins to see who will get the lead in this nailbiting series.

This game will be a launching point for whoever wins it. After all, that team will be halfway towards the number of wins needed to secure the series. For the Boston Bruins, it will be just their second win since March 10th. They will be in desperate need of a win here today. Without it, they will begin to truly wonder if their game one 2OT win was a fluke.

I can hear your comments about it being a fluke thanks to the officiating even while I am typing this article. Look, to be absolutely honest, this series has been a trainwreck for almost everyone involved so far. From the officiating to both teams on the ice.

But that is because there are actual passion and energy on the ice, regardless of what Tuukka Rask has to say. You don’t have games like these without a playoff atmosphere. Sitting on my couch and watching this game with my laptop on one end and my dog at the other end wondering if I’m having an elongated heart attack, it looks and feels like a playoff game.

That’s because it is. And the Carolina Hurricanes are going to have to do everything they can to win this game today, or else Boston will have eaten their lunch. Speaking of lunch, here is what I suggest the Carolina Hurricanes do for lunch today.

1. Set the tone Physically

Bring the body. This is not the time to skate lightfooted. These are the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the timid gets to go home. Just ask the New York Rangers or any of the other seven teams that get to watch the rest of the playoffs from anywhere other than the bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton.

The Carolina Hurricanes need to go into this game today fully caffeinated and buzz the bruins back on their heels from the first whistle. Let them know that they have eaten their Wheaties this morning and will not back down from the challenge of sending them back to Boston.

The Bruins will most likely have the same gameplan going into this one. They don’t want to go home to Boston. I can’t blame them one bit. I wouldn’t want to leave a safe virus-free bubble in Toronto to go to Boston. Pandemic or not.

Carolina needs to come out onto the ice flying and throw whatever game plan Boston had out the window. That means excellent forechecking and backchecking. That means whoever has the puck is never comfortable unless they are wearing a hurricane warning flag on their jersey.

That means that whatever attempts at creating an offensive attack gets blown up because of mistakes made by Boston or by a Carolina Hurricane actively engaging the puck-handler.

That all said, there also has to be a line drawn. We already have seen how tilted the ice can be when it comes to the vision of the boys in black and white. The Bruins have only scored on the powerplay and have been atrocious on equal strength since the end of game one.

That is due to the excellent defensive talents of the depth of this roster. Don’t expect them to always bail out this team. Win today by bringing the body, but by also keeping the officiating out of the conversation.

2. Take the Game out of the Officials’ Hands

Look, I know this isn’t an easy thing to do. This shouldn’t be something to consider or worry about. But the fact of the matter is that in two straight games, the officials have made questionable calls while missing calls that are blatant infractions. $25,000 have already been paid for comments about how bad the officials have been. We all know this.

So how can the Carolina Hurricanes keep the stripes out of influencing this game and avoid losing their head?

There is no straightforward or easy answer. While one might say that all you have to do is play a clean game, I just have to point to footage of Teuvo Teravainen waiting at the faceoff circle for a scoring chance and getting run into and high-sticked by an inattentive Bruin who then bounces off of Turbo.

Because Turbo ended up being the one sent to the box for a two-minute penalty that ended up allowing Boston to tie up the game. Natural that he would get penalized because he is a noted goon with eight penalty minutes all season.

So it is up to the Carolina Hurricanes to make up for whatever the officials cook up in today’s game. They can’t go in expecting a fair shake at this game. But they need to let their talents speak for themselves. The officials can’t give the Bruins a goal that never sees the back of the net (empty net penalties aside).

After all, “puck don’t lie”. But that also means holding onto the said puck.

3. Eliminate Turnovers

This is one aspect of their game that has gotten better, but there is still room for improvement. Game one saw the Carolina Hurricane turn the puck over 14 times. This led to more than a few Bruins goals and eventually their defeat. Game two saw that number reduced to only eight giveaways.

Ideally, however not realistically, that number should be a golden zero. Anytime there is a giveaway or a takeaway some team is either getting an opportunity for an odd-man rush, holding the offensive zone, or blowing up what could have been a dangerous scoring opportunity. The Bruins saw their fair share of it in the first two games and capitalized on a few

During game one, early in game two, and during that horrific powerplay that looked more like a kill, the Carolina Hurricanes were turning the puck over consistently. The results found the Bruins go the offensive more often and for longer, which led to losing game one and giving up the first goal of the night in game two.

The trick is to slow the game down. There are sixty minutes to play this game and this is a best-of-seven series. There is no need to try and rush, force something, and end up giving up the puck. You saw it start to happen later in game two which led to Andrei Svechnikov and Dougie Hamilton Goals. It also led to the Brady Skjei goal that was called back.

When this team takes the time to breathe and evaluate the ice, the passing is cleaner, crisper, and the shots taken are more dangerous. Not to mention more numerous. They can still improve on this today. Let guys like Jordan Martinook and Justing Williams show the rest of the team how slow and steady wins the race.

Speed is good when the pace of the game has slowed down. That is when guys like Martin Necas or Sebastian Aho can turn on the jets and get past every Bruin on their way to delivering the puck downtown.

These keys matched with everything I’ve said over the last few games together can help establish a team that can be virtually unbeatable, one that most teams would rather wait until the last possible opportunity to meet and face on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals.