The Carolina Hurricanes’ storybook season has come to a close. With a 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins in game four of the Eastern Conference Final at PNC Arena Thursday, the Hurricanes were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a sweep.
While the disappointment of the end of this run, and the fashion in which it ended, will cut deep for this team, there’s no denying what the Canes accomplished this season. The team used a blistering second half to snap a 10-year playoff drought in Rod Brind’Amour’s first season as head coach, and returned to the third round for the first time since 2009 with a roster largely devoid of prior playoff experience, save for a few veterans.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done,” said captain Justin Williams. “I’m proud that we’ve gotten ourselves relevant again. I’m proud that we raised the bar on this organization. I’m proud of every one of my teammates. It’s tough to reflect right now when things are just so sudden. I didn’t think it’d be done quite like this, but you tip your cap sometimes and Boston played great.”
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who allowed just five goals in the series, was lights out again, stopping all 24 Hurricanes shots for the shutout.
Special teams were again the story of the game and ended up being, along with Rask’s play, the overwhelming story of the series. The Bruins scored a pair of power-play goals in the second to take control of the game, and their power play finished the series at an astounding 7 for 15.
The Canes’ woeful power play, on the other hand, finished the game 0 for 2, the series 1 for 14 and the playoffs a pitiful 5 for 52. The man advantage was an achilles heel for the team for its entire playoff run and should be the top area of emphasis going into next season.
“In the end, I think our special teams killed us,” said forward Jordan Staal. “I’m on both of them, so I had to be better and a lot of guys had to be better in that regard.”
Canes goalie Curtis McElhinney, who made 19 saves, kept things scoreless seven minutes and change in with a pair of spectacular saves, a pad stop on Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy from the slot and an even better glove stop on forward Brad Marchand’s point-blank rebound try.
Following a too many men on the ice penalty against the Canes, the Bruins’ lethal power play gave them a 1-0 lead about five minutes into the second period, as forward David Pastrnak tipped home a pass from Marchand. The tally marked seven straight games in which Carolina has allowed a power-play goal.
The Boston power play struck again to double the Bruins’ lead with 1:26 left in the middle frame; Pastrnak fed Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron in the slot, who one-timed a shot past McElhinney to make it 2-0.
The Canes took nearly 10 minutes to record a shot on goal in the third period, and could not muster an offensive attack. A defensive-zone turnover a little over halfway through the period led to Bergeron’s second of the game that made it 3-0 and was effectively the final nail in the coffin for Carolina.
Brind’Amour pulled McElhinney for an extra skater with over five minutes to play, but there would be no miracle comeback, and an empty netter from Marchand with 2:17 remaining removed any remaining doubt.
“They did a good job of clogging it up,” Staal said. “Our strength is our forecheck and they did a good job of keeping us from getting good dumps and good rims. We were pretty stubborn, turning the puck over a little bit too much and trying to make plays off them which is what they feed off of. It wasn’t the ideal game for us.”
As the game came to a close, the sellout crowd showed its appreciation for what this team accomplished. Over the final two minutes of the game and through the handshake line, the fans gave their team a standing ovation, and chants of “Let’s go Canes” rained down one last time for the season.
“I want to thank the people in this community for supporting us,” Brind’Amour said. “I hate that we went out like that on that game. That was a dud game for them to come watch so I apologize for that, but tremendous support for our team. It means to me, but it means a lot to this organization to see the people not just come back but the way they do it and the way they get behind our group. It’s a real community feel. It’s something special. It was great.”
While 2018-19 did not end the way the Canes wanted, this team was a lot to be proud of and should have a lot to look forward to. Carolina was 13th in the Eastern Conference on December 31 and used one of the best runs in the league in the season’s second half to reach the postseason.
Brind’Amour proved he has what it takes to be as successful as a head coach as he was as a player. And so many Hurricanes who had never tasted the playoffs, including young stars such as forwards Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov and Slavin and defenseman Brett Pesce, proved they belonged in the NHL’s second season, and now know what it takes to reach the highest levels of success.
“It stings right now,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s going to sting for a while, but you do need to at some point reflect on what happened this year. I’m super proud of this group, super proud of this organization. We overachieved, there’s no other way you can look at it. You can look at these last four games and say that wasn’t very pretty but you take the whole picture of what went on here and it’s pretty impressive, in my opinion with the group and who we had.
“I think we had four or five rookies up front most nights and nobody really talked about that too much. We were just figuring it out as we went. I’m really proud of the group… because it was a fun group to be around.”
The Boston Bruins celebrate a goal scored by Bruins left wing Brad Marchand during game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Conference Final series on Thursday, May 16, 2019 in PNC Arena. The Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 to clench the Eastern Conference Final title.
