Gold: Canes look to drop the curtain on the Bruins in Game 6
Posted May 12, 2022 12:26 p.m. EDT
Updated May 12, 2022 12:58 p.m. EDT
“Baseball is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.” – Joe Riggins, Durham Bulls manager (from the movie, duh).
For a sport that has worn out “keep it simple” as a timeless cliche, hockey is no different. We can get lost in the weeds about systems, possession metrics and matchups until we’re blue in the face. But, sometimes, the answer is very simple.
When the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins are playing even strength hockey, this series has been a mismatch. The Hurricanes have proven to be vastly superior to the Bruins. Through the first five games of this series the Canes have a 12-6 edge in 5-on-5 scoring. Even in the two losses in Boston the even strength scoring edge went Carolina’s way, 4-3.
It was special teams that made the difference in the two road games for the Hurricanes. At TD Garden, where the Bruins and Canes will square off in Game 6 tonight, the B’s went on the power play 14 times! They scored 4 and added a shorthanded goal on one of the Hurricanes chances with the man advantage for a +5 edge in special teams. I don’t care who you play, you spend that amount of time shorthanded and you are going to lose.
It just so happens that the Bruins have one of the most intelligent teams in the NHL and their three future hall of fame forwards make their power play lethal, even against the NHL’s top penalty kill. So, limiting those chances is, and will always be, job one for the Hurricanes tonight.
It's a numbers game...
The Hurricanes have outscored the Bruins 19-13 in this series. They have a 12-6 edge at 5-on-5, trail 5-4 in power play scoring, they gave up a shorthanded goal and they have 3 empty net goals to Boston’s one.
Want to include the regular season series?
5-on-5 goals: Carolina 10, Boston 0
Power play goals: Carolina 5, Boston 1
Empty net goals: Carolina 1, Boston 0
Add that up and you get a 22-6 edge at normal strength, 9-5 advantage on the power play and a 4-1 lead into an empty net. The lone blemish is Charlie Coyle’s shorthanded goal in Game 3 that gave the Bruins life in this series.
If the Hurricanes can succeed in making tonight a 5-on-5 hockey game, there probably won’t be a Game 7. If Carolina wears out a path to the penalty box like they did over the weekend in Beantown there probably will be another game at PNC Arena for the Bruins to play.
Bruce Cassidy will more than likely reunite his best three players at some point again tonight. And, when Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak are together it’s about as dangerous a forward line as there is in the NHL. Against the Hurricanes in this series, they have 3 even strength goals. But, let’s dig into them a bit.
In Game 3, Marchand found some room in the slot and finished off a broken play with his first goal of the series. In Game 4, that line scored off two set plays off offensive zone face offs. Not taking anything away from their ability or success. But, at even strength, rumors of the “Perfection Line” dominance has been greatly exaggerated.
Expect Cassidy to target the Sebastian Aho line again as his desired match up since he has the last change. It will be up to Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis to neutralize that line and let the rest of the Hurricanes – the better team – take advantage.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
No changes to the Hurricanes line up tonight.
Svechnikov-Aho-Jarvis
Teravainen-Trocheck-Necas
Niederreiter-Staal-Fast
Domi-Kotkaniemi-Stepan
Slavin-DeAngelo
Skjei-Pesce
Smith-Cole
Raanta
Antti Raanta is 2-1 in 4 appearances in this series with a .942 save percentage.
Numbers game (part 2)….
Tony DeAngelo leads the Hurricanes in playoff scoring with 8 points (1g, 7a) in 5 games. Seth Jarvis, Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter each have 3 goals to lead all scorers. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen are each at a point per game in the series as well.
But, the stand out for me is Jaccob Slavin. Carolina’s defensive stalwart has 2 goals, 3 assists and is a +9 for the series.
Wanna bet…?
ML: Boston -125/Carolina +105. O/U: 6 goals.
Coverage begins at 6:00 on 99.9 the Fan with Storm Watch starring Dennis Cox. Opening face off set for just after 7:00. Don’t forget to follow the Canes Corner Podcast as a new episode drops the #MorningAfter every Hurricanes game.
