Bruins sweep home-and-home with a 3-2 win in Carolina

The Bruins were caught scrambling a lot tonight, but came out with a 3-2 victory on the back of Tim Thomas' effort. (AP)

Despite being outshot 45-28, the Bruins were able to come away from their home-and-home series with the Hurricanes with two wins, the latest being a 3-2 win in Carolina. The Bruins scored two power-play goals, the first and last goals of the game, and got a game-saving effort from Tim Thomas to come away with the victory.

Just 17 seconds into the game the Bruins were awarded the game’s first power-play when Jussi Jokinen went to the box for tripping. The Bruins peppered Cam Ward from the point, looking to get inside the goaltender’s head for the second straight day. Johnny Boychuk would get his first goal of the season when he labeled a one-timer from the point, beating Wards high blocker-side for the early goal.

Carolina’s anxiety showed early on, going offsides often and looking more individualistic than like a team. However, Eric Staal did earn his team a power-play when he drew a call, giving the Hurricanes their first power-play of the night. Staal nullified the penalty 49 seconds in when he was forced to slash Brad Marchand to keep him from breaking towards the Carolina net. Both penalties went by the wayside and the teams returned to even strength for the middle of the period.

Both teams started to get their legs under them and both created good chances however both goalies came up huge for their teams early. Tim Thomas first made a nice standing pad save then Cam Ward made a good side-to-side save, tracking the puck through traffic to stay square. Both goalies were strong in chaotic moments.

Marchand would give the Canes their second power-play of the night with about three minutes to go in the first period. The Bruins did a good job of keeping the puck out of their zone in the first minute, forechecking well but then the Canes were able to set up and camp out in the Bruins zone, peppering Thomas and creating chaos until Jussi Jokinen eventually put a rebound in as Thomas couldn’t control the puck in his pads. The Bruins couldn’t get the puck out of the zone and eventually Eric Staal poked a rebound free from the goal line, getting it behind Thomas where Jokinen pounced on it in the crease.

The Canes got a lot of momentum from the power-play, threatening in the last minute and nearly scoring in the final seconds on a rush during a Bruins line change until Erik Cole was pushed into the net. Tim Thomas earned himself a minor when he inexplicably pushed a Carolina player after the final whistle.

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Thanks to Thomas the bruins started the period off on the penalty-kill. Thomas did his best to kill off his penalty, making spectacular saves during a frenetic first two minutes to the period. The Bruins would then get the sixth power-play in the first 25 minutes when Tuomo Ruutu went to the box a few minutes after the kill. Nathan Horton would get a Grade A chance in front but Cam Ward robbed him with a nice glove save, ensuring Horton stays snake-bit for the time being. Horton would then go to the box midway through the power-play on a shaky slashing call on the backcheck.

The Bruins undisciplined play led to another penalty, meaning they would have played more than six of the first 11 minutes shorthanded. The Bruins penalty-kill didn’t look great but it never broke down completely in front of Thomas. However, it did make it very difficult to get any momentum going in the second stanza as it appeared that the Bruins were hanging on by a thread to the tie. A great portion of the period felt like the Canes had pulled their goalie and went for a Hail Mary. Thomas kept the Bruins in the game by the skin of his teeth, making huge saves while getting interfered with visually and physically.

The Bruins would get a break when they got a power-play after a delay of game. The Bruins did little but stemmed the Hurricanes momentum late and preserved a tie in large part to Tim Thomas’ wizardry in the net.

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The Bruins did a better job of controlling play in the beginning of the third period. Both sides got their chances, but it wasn’t nearly as one-sided as the 19-9 shot advantage of the second period was for the Canes. The stop-and-go beginning of the period took away a lot of Carolina’s ability to skate and it proved important when Brad Marchand converted a rebound to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. The Canes iced the puck and had to take a draw in their own zone, which they promptly lost clean. The puck went back to the point and then was shot towards the net by Zdeno Chara. The puck hit a body out front and landed in Marchand’s feet. Ward, now out of position, tried to dive to his left to make a stop but Marchand put the puck in easily.

Ward redeemed himself a few sequences later when he stopped Nathan Horton cold on a 2-on-1 bid. Horton strolled down the left side, looked pass but curled the puck and wristed it blocker-side. Ward read the tell well and shifted right at the last second, making a blocker save and covering up.

Carolina would battle back a few minutes later when Chad Larose converted on the weak side on a weird play. The puck flew straight up in the air in front of the crease and when it came down it was quickly dished to Larose on the weak side. Thomas couldn’t move his eyes from up to down to right quick enough and Larose beat Thomas’ pad to the post. Larose’s hero status didn’t last long as he was called for elbowing on his next shift. Elbowing Chara isn’t an easy feat but he managed to do it.

The Bruins would get the lead on the power-play when Milan Lucic hammered home a nice pass from Mark Recchi from the slot. Steve Kampfer started the rush and made it to the blue line before giving the puck to Recchi. Recchi then wheeled back behind the net but passed at the last second to an open Lucic in front. Ward couldn’t swing his head back around in time and Lucic beat Ward before he could butterfly.

Carolina came back with a ton of energy in an intense few shifts following the goal, and with time waning, they needed to. However, the Bruins beared down in the final portion of the period and played some of their best defense of the game when it mattered most. The Canes pulled the goalie with just under 90 seconds left in regulation and the Bruins did a good job of protection the neutral zone and forechecking, enough so to actually draw a penalty when Ruutu was called for tripping in front of his empty net. The play gave the Bruins a power-play with 27.6 seconds left with a draw in the Carolina zone. The Bruins kept the puck in the Carolina zone for the remaining time and Ward was never given a chance to leave his goal.

The Bruins win by a final of 3-2 and they play again at home against Buffalo.