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The Carolina Hurricanes fell 5-2 to the Boston Bruins in Game 4 today, leaving the series now even at 2-2.
The Hurricanes out played Boston early on, limiting the Bruins to just six shots in the opening frame. Carolina struck first late in the period, with Jordan Staal finding Brett Pesce in front, who beat Jeremy Swayman with under six minutes left in the period. Just two minutes later though, Antti Raanta lost track of the puck behind the net and Patrice Bergeron was able to tuck it past him, tying the game through 20 minutes.
Carolina took back the lead only 33 seconds into the second period, as Jordan Staal buried a pass from Nino Niederreiter. The Bruins really took over after that though, outshooting Carolina 13-6, based on the Hurricanes taking penalty after penalty (six in the period altogether). Then later in the frame, Jake DeBrusk tied the game by burying a loose puck that Raanta couldn’t cover. It looked like there was goaltender interference with Raanta’s pad getting pushed backwards by DeBrusk, but from a different angle it also looked like it could’ve been Brett Pesce’s stick pushing the top of Raanta’s pad. It did still seem like DeBrusk was at least partially responsible but after a challenge, the goal stood, leaving the game at 2-2 and the Hurricanes with a delay of game penalty. Sebastian Aho then took a four-minute high-sticking penalty and while the Bruins didn’t capitalize before the intermission, it meant Carolina would need a key penalty kill to start the third period.
The Bruins then struck on the power play just 44 seconds into the period, with Brad Marchand blowing a shot by Raanta to give Boston the lead. Then only about five minutes later, Marchand found David Pastrnak in front right off a faceoff, and Pastrnak scored on the open net to increase the lead to 4-2. The Hurricanes weren’t able to generate a ton of chances afterwards and despite a late push, Marchand iced the game with an empty net goal, for a 5-2 Bruins win.
The Hurricanes were sunk by their penalties, giving the Bruins a ridiculous nine power plays. They spent a huge portion of the second period shorthanded and gave up the tying goal, along with the game-winning goal in the third period while killing off penalties. The loss wasn’t about effort level or not capitalizing, the Hurricanes simply couldn’t stay out of the box.
That said, Carolina’s power play also let them down again, going 0-for-4 (this coming after an 0-for-5 showing in Game 2). When so much of the series has been about special teams, the Hurricanes can’t keep losing the battle.
The Hurricanes also failed to take advantage of the fact that the Bruins were missing arguably their two most important defenders, in Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy. Antti Raanta also didn’t look great, allowing some stoppable goals.
The Hurricanes will look to go back ahead in Game 5 on Tuesday at home.
QuizMaker
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Special teams a deciding factor in Hurricanes' Game 3 loss to Bruins 
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