Coming off a double overtime loss the Carolina Hurricanes responded, beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday to tie their first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
A 2-2 tie was broken in the third period via the stick of Dougie Hamilton who fired a laser over the shoulders of Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask. A late push for an equalizer by Boston was unsuccessful as the Hurricanes held on to the 3-2 score line to the final whistle.
The Hurricanes had nearly taken the lead earlier in the period when a loose puck was potted in the back of the net only to immediately get waved off. An unsuccessful Carolina challenge gave Boston a power play they were unable to capitalize on.
After the Bruins power play had been a weakness in the round robin and all of Game 1, it was the power play unit—sans David Pastrnak who missed the game with the ‘unfit to play’ designation—that gave the Bruins a shot at all.
Boston opened the scoring with a David Krejci power play goal with 4:18 left in the first. The goal was answered by Andrei Svechnikov in the second frame. The Bruins power play broke the 1-1 tie with just a few ticks left in the second period, again on the power play—this time a Brad Marchand lamplighter.
Boston’s power play success wasn’t enough as the Bruins failed to crack Hurricanes’ goaltender James Reimer in the third period, falling 3-2.
Play of the night: Dougie Hamilton’s third-period goal
Facing off against his former team, Dougie Hamilton showed the Bruins what they were missing with his third-period goal on Thursday night.
?GOAL!?
Dougie Hamilton with a rocket of a goal against his former team just under halfway through the third to give the Canes the lead.
Hurricanes: 3
Bruins: 2 pic.twitter.com/zmB7F2u6oI— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) August 14, 2020
With the puck just above the right faceoff circle, Hamilton unloaded a slapshot that left Tuukka Rask looking helpless as the puck buried itself in the back of the net with just 11:30 left in the game.
Not only was the goal against Hamilton’s former employer in the Bruins, it also proved to be the difference-maker, giving the Hurricanes their ultimate 3-2 advantage in a much-needed Game 2 victory to tie the series at one.
