The offense slept in for the matinee as the Carolina Hurricanes drop one in Beantown

The Carolina Hurricanes opened November with a Saturday matinee in Beantown. On the heels of a dominant performance against the New York Islanders on Thursday, the Canes sought another fast start against the Boston Bruins. The group scored three goals in the first and third periods to lap their division foes, 6-2, at the Lenovo Center.

Despite exiting Thursday's contest early, Seth Jarvis took warmups before the game and was declared good to go, marking no change to the team's lineup, outside of Frederik Andersen in the crease. The Bruins countered with Jeremy Swayman between the pipes. They played without former Hurricane Elias Lindholm, who is expected to miss multiple weeks with a lower-body injury.

The first period didn't feature any goals, but it did feature a pair of Alexander Nikishin bone-crunchers. First, he put a shoulder into Marat Khusnutdinov behind the Canes' net. Then, he acquainted himself with David Pastrnak in the corner. Outside of some iron shots by the Canes, both goalies stood on business, getting their teams into the first intermission scoreless.

Goals eluded both sides again in the second period, though it felt as if good chances were few and far between. The best chances felt like they came in the Canes' end, forcing Andersen to be sharp. While he received some help from the iron at one point, he was stout the rest of the frame. The Bruins had a great push late in the period, but nothing came of it.

The seal was finally broken early in the third, but it was by the Bruins. Sean Walker did all he could to prevent Charlie McAvoy's pass from reaching Casey Mittelstadt. He just didn't get all of it as Mittelstadt scored. Viktor Arvidsson doubled it after a blocked shot led to a breakaway. Nikishin scored one late to break the shutout, but the Canes couldn't find the equalizer, falling, 2-1.

Nikishin brought the Boom to Boston

The rest of the team might not have been up to snuff on Saturday afternoon, but Alexander Nikishin was firing on all cylinders. He tried to set the tone in the first period, laying a few big hits. Then, with his team down a pair and the goalie on the bench, Nikishin pulled his team back into the fight with a bullet for his second goal. The rookie defender was easily the team's best player.

To be clear, Nikishin's game wasn't perfect. He was caught in the Boston zone when they transitioned on the opening goal, and he was on the ice for the second Boston goal, though Walker was the one caught. Still, from start to finish, Nikishin was one of the team's most impactful players, showing that he's truly adjusting and becoming what we hoped he'd be.

The end of the 2nd period foreshadowed the start of the 3rd

While neither team had a goal through two periods, I felt the way the second period ended stood out quite a bit. The action was almost non-stop after the second commercial break, and it was all Boston. The Canes lucked out when Viktor Arvidsson couldn't handle a pass for a sure goal. Then, Sean Kuraly hit the post. Andersen might not be credited with many saves, but he was under attack.

When the start of the third period rolled around, the Bruins carried their momentum with them. They transitioned the puck well to get the first goal, and they threw their bodies in front of the puck before flying the zone and converting a breakaway. The Bruins had the book on the Canes for this game, and they executed their gameplan to perfection.

Additional Thoughts

I don't know how you look at this loss and point fingers at Frederik Andersen. He put forth another great effort, looking perfect through two periods. Sure, maybe you'd like a stop on the breakaway, especially since it was shot from a decent distance, but there wasn't much run support given to him. This one isn't on him.

The lines were blended in the third period, with Nikolaj Ehlers moving off Sebastian Aho's wing. There is a world where I could see him getting a look on Logan Stankoven's left side in New York, but Ehlers has been playing just fine. He had four shots in the game, second only to Aho's five. I don't want to put too much weight into the decision.

Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes will come home for a few days before heading back out on the road to battle the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. The Canes will play their first home game of the month on Thursday when they host the Minnesota Wild, kicking off a stretch of five home games over their next six contests.