The Carolina Hurricanes asserted their claim as one of, if not the best, team in the NHL with a resounding 7-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The Canes disposed of the Bruins early with five first-period goals on 12 shots and never looked back.
Defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Tony DeAngelo and center Jesperi Kotkaniemi led the charge for Carolina, combining for three goals and five assists. However, 10 total skaters scored at least one point for the Hurricanes, solidifying the win as a team effort to snap a five-game Bruins winning streak.
“That’s the key to winning: being able to get contributions from every line, even the D-men.,” said center Seth Jarvis. “I think our d-men played a great game today and so did every line, we all contributed in different ways.”
Slavin himself opened the scoring action with a quick pass across the face of goal to connect with left wing Teuvo Teräväinen, who fired away to beat Boston netminder Tuukka Rask within the first four minutes of the game.
Kotkaniemi doubled the Canes’ advantage a few minutes later, but the Bruins then made the most of their lone goal on the night. With 8:47 left in the first, Patrice Bergeron put Boston on the board with a power play goal, ending a spotless PK run for Carolina who surrendered its first power play goal since downing the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Dec. 7.
“The penalty kill is something we take pride in,” Slavin said. “Obviously we got great forwards who are smart and can kill with great sticks and good reads out there. That’s definitely something that we take pride in as a D-core, to do our job whenever we do go a man down.”
Perhaps irked that their power play had to start a new streak of goalless shifts, the Canes proceeded to pour on the goals for the remainder of the night. Kotkaniemi scored his second goal of the game, followed by a grown-man goal by Jarvis and a goal by center Derek Stepan to top off a 5-1 first period.
“We had some early on too, but this was one of the good ones,” Stepan said. “Right from the start of the game, we did a lot of things we wanted to. That’s what you need on a consistent basis.”
The second period contained none of the scoring action that was bountiful in the first, but that was not for a lack of trying from an opportunistic Bruins power play. Carolina got sloppy with their stick work, committing two hi-sticking penalties along with a trip in the middle period to grant Boston multiple chances to build on its earlier power play goal.
Goaltender Frederik Andersen was the main reason the Bruins could not capitalize on those opportunities, stepping up big-time throughout the night to limit Boston to just the one goal. If not for the big Dane’s efforts, Boston could have utilized their own abundance of talent to muster a comeback.
“You can’t have a good kill without a good goaltender,” Slavin said. “Freddie plays a huge part in that too, Freddie and [goaltender Antti Raanta]. It’s huge to be able to have someone back there in the crease so that if there are breakdowns, you know he has our back.”
The third period began in a similar fashion, as center Vincent Trocheck went to the box for another Canes penalty kill, but Andersen and the PK unit set the tone for a third period that saw only nine shots for the Bruins. On the other hand, Slavin found the net himself in the third period before right wing Andrei Svechnikov notched a goal of his own to finalize the scoreline at 7-1.
The surging Hurricanes will return to PNC Arena for a Metropolitan Division showdown with the New York Rangers on Friday, Jan. 21. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
