Bruins Storm Past Hurricanes In Third Period To Take 1-0 Series Lead In Eastern Conference Final
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Bruins have drawn first blood in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.
Hosting the Hurricanes for Game 1 of the series, the Bruins scored a pair of third-period power-play goals to rally from a 2-1 deficit through two periods en route to a 5-2 win.
Patrice Bergeron, standing in front of the Carolina net on a Boston power play, rifled a shot home past Petr Mrazek at 2:54 of the third period to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead. Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk assisted on the goal, which stood as the game-winner.
Dougie Hamilton was in the penalty box, serving a roughing minor.
Charlie Coyle scored an empty-net goal from distance with 2:13 left to play, and Chris Wagner scored 11 seconds later to add an exclamation point, capping off a period where the Bruins scored four unanswered goals to earn the home victory.
Petr Mrazek made just 22 saves on the night. Tuukka Rask stoped 29 Carolina shots.
The Bruins got out to an early 1-0 lead in this one, after Marcus Johansson forced a turnover at the Carolina blue and rushed the puck up the ice. The Swede pulled up after crossing into the offensive zone, turning his back to the net and waiting for his teammates to join him. After a tick, he sent a backhand feed to Steven Kampfer, who was dressing in this game in place of the suspended Charlie McAvoy.
Kampfer carried the puck into the slot and fired away, beating Mrazek for the game's first goal.
But the lead didn't last long. Sean Kuraly took a roughing call after a mild post-whistle scrum near the benches, and the Hurricanes scored immediately off the resulting faceoff in the Boston end. Andrei Svechnikov hit Sebastian Aho on a net drive, and Aho redirected the puck past Rask, just 47 seconds after Boston's goal.
Greg McKegg gave the Hurricanes a lead near the midway point of the second period, when he got around Kampfer and fit a shot past Rask before crashing into the netminder after taking a shove from Kampfer.
After a brief review, the call of a good goal was confirmed.
But the Bruins managed to tie the game at two goals apiece on a power play, after Jordan Staal headed to the box for boarding Chris Wagner. Johansson flipped a rebound over Mrazek after a Brad Marchand shot to tie the game.
Game 2 will be played Sunday in Boston at 3 p.m. ET, before the series moves down to Raleigh for Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Thursday.
