Tuesday's Bruins-Hurricanes game in Raleigh featured the teams with the two best records in the NHL going in. The final score, a 2-1 win for Carolina, might suggest that this was a close game befitting of the billing.
That final score is deceiving, though. The reality is that this game looked a lot more like the defending Stanley Cup champions imposing their will on a Boston team that clearly still has work to do before it can be put on the same level as the NHL's best.
The Bruins did get off to a great start. JJ Peterka drew a penalty a minute into the game, and the Bruins scored 30 seconds into the ensuing power play when Elias Lindholm set up Pavel Zacha. They continued to play well through a very entertaining first period, but the Hurricanes built some momentum late and tied the game with 52 seconds left before the break.
From there, the game was almost all Carolina. Neither team scored in the second period, but the Hurricanes outshot the Bruins 8-2 in the frame and spent what felt like the entire period in the Boston zone. The Bruins took three penalties, including back-to-back trips by Nikita Zadorov and Hampus Lindholm in the final minute that gave Carolina an extended 5-on-3 power play.
The Bruins, to their credit, did manage to survive all of that, but they could only bend for so long before finally breaking. Shortly after Matt Poitras hit the post on an empty net at one end, Sebastian Aho scored at the other to give Carolina a 2-1 lead with 9:41 to go.
The Bruins got a pair of late power plays, giving them a chance to still salvage a point. They couldn't convert, though. Zacha and David Pastrnak both had good looks turned aside, and then Zacha whiffed on one final shot in the game's closing seconds.
It was only because of Jeremy Swayman (28 saves, 2.1 goals saved above expected) that the Bruins even had a chance late. They hadn't done nearly enough to generate offense before the final few minutes.
When it was all said and done, the Bruins had gotten outshot 30-15. During one stretch from the middle of the second period until the middle of the third, they went more than 20 minutes of game action without a shot on goal. At 5-on-5 play, they got out-attempted 52-24 and outshot 25-9.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour matched up first line vs. first line and second line vs. second line, and his team decisively won those top-six battles. In the 9:28 that Pastrnak, Zacha and Peterka were out against Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and William Carrier, shot attempts were 15-4 Carolina. In the 7:07 that Fraser Minten, Morgan Geekie and Marat Khusnutdinov faced Nik Ehlers, Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake, it was even worse – a whopping 16-0 advantage for the Canes.
The Bruins' best line was the fourth line of Poitras, Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic, but unfortunately Poitras's night will be remembered for failing to bury not one, but two chances on wide-open nets.
As is the case for a lot of teams against Carolina, the Bruins struggled mightily against the Hurricanes' relentless forecheck, with both veterans and kids alike holding onto pucks too long and making bad plays under pressure. The most glaring example was rookie defenseman Frederic Brunet's turnover deep in his own zone that led to Carolina's first goal. Brunet was not initially under pressure when he got the puck, but he got caught flat-footed and indecisive, and Stankoven just swooped in to take the puck away before setting up Blake for the goal.
None of this is any reason for the Bruins to panic. It does not erase the positive things they've done in the first month of the season. They're still a 9-3-1 team that has looked very good in a lot of those wins. But it is a reminder that the Hurricanes are the defending champs for a reason, and that the Bruins have work to do and things to learn to get on that level.
"They know how to do it," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said of Carolina after the game. "We're just not there yet. Hopefully we learned and got something out of it today."
