Dougie Hamilton strike powers Hurricanes to Game 2 win over Bruins

By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com

The Bruins were dealt a big blow half an hour before the scheduled start of Game 2 against the Hurricanes, with word that David Pastrnak, the team's leading goal scorer and a factor in Boston's first and final goal of their Game 1 victory, was deemed "unfit to play."

And while the B's scored their first two power-play goals of the postseason without No. 88 teeing up his signature one-time bomb, it wasn't enough, as Dougie Hamilton scored the game-winning in a 3-2 win to tie this series at 1-1.

Replacing the UTP Pasta on Boston's first power-play unit, David Krejci took advantage of a stick-less Jordan Staal and rifled home his second goal in as many games, scored at the 15:41 mark, to put Boston up 1-0 through 20 minutes.

But the second period forced the Black and Gold to weather Carolina's strongest storm yet, and with the Hurricanes finding results by way of goals from Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov, scored just 1:28 apart, to completely flip this game on its head. These were the results of some straight-up ugly second-period hockey, too, with the Bruins constantly chasing the puck in their own zone, seemingly at the mercy of a relentless Carolina five-man attack.

Offered a get-out-of-jail-free card with a late-period power-play chance, Brad Marchand made sure the Bruins capitalized, and buried a chance by James Reimer with just three seconds in the frame, bringing the sides to a 2-2 tie after two periods.

This one wouldn't come without some additional controversy, from shoddy penalties to missed calls, and yet another unsuccessful challenge from 'Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour. For Brind'Amour, this latest challenge came with a dispute that Teravainen interfered with Rask, implying that he was pushed into Rask by B's defenseman Torey Krug.

The NHL did not agree, and Carolina was assessed yet another delay of game penalty, which they killed off for their first successful kill of the evening.

(Brind'Amour, mind you, went on a massive tirade against the 'joke' officiating in Game 1, and was hit with a $25,000 fine, and a conditional $25,000 fine should he go on a similar tirade between now and Aug. 12, 2021. The NHL is really trying to get their money's worth with this fine, you'd say. Gotta make up for that HRR loss somehow.)

But the Hurricanes once again pinned the Bruins in their own zone, and it was Hamilton who came through with an absolute bomb, beating Rask upstairs for the go-ahead goal with 11:30 remaining in the third period.

It was just more of the same self-inflicted d-zone wounds and bad habits that the Bruins tried to leave in the second period. You were talking about another d-zone turnover, another five-on-five sequence that looked like a Hurricane power play, and yet another unguarded shot from a Carolina defender. Their most offensively-capable defender, no less.

The Bruins didn't pack it in, though, and generate some beautiful chances on a penalty kill, an extended spell in the Carolina end (started and finished by David Krejci), and even had an o-zone draw with 42.7 seconds left and their net empty. Hell, the Canes even tempted fate with a second icing, that one coming with 12 seconds left.

Puck-luck was not on their side, however, as it bounced every which way but in, tying this series at 1-1.

Reimer finished his night with 33 stops on 35 shots faced, while Rask finished with a 23-of-26 line in the B's crease.

Game 3 is Saturday at noon, and as always, can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub.