The Bruins started Game 1 in Raleigh about as good as they could have hoped.
They landed nine of the game’s first 10 shots on Antti Raanta, and it appeared that Raanta and the Bruins’ Linus Ullmark were fully engaged in a goaltending duel. But with the sides still posting dueling zeroes, a pair of goals separated by just 130 seconds late in the second period put the Bruins in a hole they just couldn’t dig out of in a 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes.
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Carolina’s scoring started with a Seth Jarvis tip on a Jaccob Slavin shot, and the Canes doubled their edge with a Nino Niederreiter rip through four bodies and through Ullmark to make it 2-0 through two periods of action.
But the Bruins refused to pack it in despite the multi-goal deficit through two periods, and got on the board with a Taylor Hall shot that fluttered through the Hurricanes’ Raanta at the 2:53 mark of the third period.
Taylor Hall from the high slot. Good work down low by McAvoy and Haula.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 3, 2022
2-1 game. pic.twitter.com/fq9I63QVH9
And just like that, the Bruins appeared ready to make their push.
Hall continued the surge for the Bruins with a rocket off the post to the right of Raanta just moments later, but a bad pinch by the Bruins’ Matt Grzelcyk sparked the Canes for a two-on-one chance the other way, where Vinny Trocheck fed Teuvo Teravainen for the goal that re-established the Carolina lead at two.
This was unfortunately the theme of the night for the Bruins, as Carolina’s late-period push in the middle frame also came on the heels of what was a near-goal (or two) for the Bruins at the other end.
The Bruins were given another chance to claw their way back into action when Brendan Smith was whistled for an interference penalty, but the power play sputtered one final time, and this game was ultimately put to bed with insurance markers from Trocheck and an empty-net dagger from Andrei Svechnikov.
Ullmark finished with 20 saves on 24 shots faced, while Raanta had a 35-of-36 line in the Carolina net.
Elsewhere on the roster, forwards Patrice Bergeron, Erik Haula, and Tomas Nosek led the way for the Bruins in the physicality department, with five hits each. The Hurricanes’ Brendan Smith led all skaters, with seven hits in 17:20 of play.
With the loss, the Bruins dropped to 9-3 in Game 1 contests coached by Bruce Cassidy.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday night at PNC Arena.
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