Carolina Hurricanes Look to Stave off Elimination Against The Bruins

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Bruins in game five tonight

The Carolina Hurricanes look to avoid elimination and live to play another game this evening as they take on the Bruins in game five. Here are the Keys to a win.

Backs to the wall, now is the time to have the best three straight games of the series. Never mind the series record, the Hurricanes have to play like they have been set on fire. They have to play like nothing else matters. They have to win tonight and be prepared to do it again tomorrow.

This is it. You slip up once in the next three games and you are on a one way ticket back to Raleigh, North Carolina. The entire fan base will have a lump in their throats as they watch this game. I know I will.

But everyone needs to understand that it can be done. Winning games against the Bruins is not a far-fetched notion. The only game that had a higher goal differential than one was game three, and even then, it was due to an empty netter.

There is so much more for this team to give. They have so much further to go. This is not a team that bows out in the first round. This is not a team that allows another team to come into the series and bully them like this, this is a team that no matter how far astray they go, they come back and they win.

We know this. But can this Carolina Hurricanes team prove it to their fans? It starts by following these three keys to the game and skating away with the win to force a back to back.

1. Take Control of the Game

The Carolina Hurricanes need to dictate how this game goes

Game four saw the Carolina Hurricanes carry the lead through two periods. But they never controlled the game. They never had any real control of the game. The Bruins were always going to come back into that one, it was simply a matter of when.

It was like watching someone trying to douse a fire, but never fully extinguishing the flame. Do not be surprised when the flame catches something flammable and burns down your house when you do that.

This afternoon, the Hurricanes need to take a serious lesson from that game and come in to control this game. From whistle to whistle, they need to be the team in control. The team that can blow up into four goals if the bruins take so much as a breather at any moment. The team that is never out of it and if they have the lead, the team that is going to win regardless.

Without that this team will be a team that will have to figure out what went wrong tomorrow on an awkward bus ride. It is because they never took control.

They know how to do it. They did it against the Rangers. They dominated and controlled those three games from whistle to whistle. The Rangers never felt like they had a chance. The Bruins have to feel that same pressure, like they can’t quite get to their game and have to rely on weak bounces and puck luck to get any momentum going.

They do that tonight and we will get another game-day tomorrow.

2. Take no Prisoners

The Carolina Hurricanes need to not be shy with the body

The Bruins have been more than happy to lay the body onto Carolina Hurricanes. The favor needs to be returned with interest. This team is more talent than grit right now, but that isn’t an excuse to get bullied around with no response.

First Andrei Svechnikov gets slew footed, then Joel Edmundson, the team’s resident grit, gets knocked out in game three as well, and the latest injury, to Jordan Staal, however minor, also goes undetected by the officials. The Bruins are having their way with Carolina players and that needs to change.

There has to be a response. This Carolina Team needs to turn the tables of physicality show that this sort of violence will not go unpunished. The officials do not want to clean this up, so it is up to the players to police this effort themselves.

Look, I’m not saying that the Hurricanes have to play dirty or swoop down to the Bruins’ level of dirty play, but they need to get more physical and shouldn’t be afraid to drop the mitts. It worked wonders against the Rangers. They won that series once Justin Williams decided to drop the mitts then Ryan Strome. That happened early in game one.

Time to show that physical confidence once again. Again, I’m not saying that the Hurricanes need to hurt anyone, or try to injure a player on purpose. Not what I am saying, I am saying that the Hurricanes need to mentally establish to the Bruins that their free reign on getting physical against their star players is over.

Take no prisoners.

Game Notes

The Carolina Hurricanes are going into tonight’s with desperation

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Puck Drop: 4:00 pm EST
Location: Scotiabank Arena
TV: FOX Sports Carolina (Locally), NBCSN (Non-Local)
Radio: 99.9 The Fan
Uniform: White Aways
Potential Lineup:

• Martinook – Aho – Teravainen
• Dzingel – Trocheck – Necas
• Foegele – Staal – Williams
• Niederreiter – Geekie – McGinn
• Slavin-Hamilton
• Skjei–Vatanen
• Fleury– Van Riemsdyk

Potential Goalie Matchup:

• Hurricanes: Petr Mrazek
• Bruins: Jaroslav Halak

The Carolina Hurricanes are still without Andrei Svechnikov and Joel Edmundson. Staal, who took a late hit in game three, managed to practice and will be a game-time decision.

The Bruins have a virtually non-existent 50.5%. chance of victory according to moneypuck.com.

Question For CC Readers: Can the Carolina Hurricanes stay alive tonight?