The Carolina Hurricanes evened their first round series against the Boston Bruins yesterday, winning Game 2 by a score of 3-2.
Sami Vatanen and Justin Williams were both back for Game 2 but Joel Edmundson was listed as unfit to play, which resulted in quite a few lineup changes. Jake Gardiner and Nino Niederreiter were both scratched, while Trevor van Riemsdyk entered the lineup. I’m more okay with van Riemsdyk replacing Gardiner, even if it was surprising, but I’m against Niederreiter being scratched, especially in favour of Ryan Dzingel.
Even in the game, there were all sorts of different line combinations and it looks like Rod Brind’Amour still hasn’t really figured out what he wants his lineup to look like. The Bruins also had a major absence in their lineup, as David Pastrnak was unable to suit up for Game 2.
As for the game, the Hurricanes battled hard and fought through some adversity, especially after their goal was waved off. Up front, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen were all still counted on quite a bit, though Martin Necas also had a good game and made a great pass to Svechnikov for Carolina’s second goal. Vincent Trocheck was good as well but for whatever reason, he just hasn’t been able to find the scoresheet.
On defense, Dougie Hamilton’s return has been huge for Carolina. I will say that Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen scared me a bit defensively and they both had some bad turnovers that led to some good chances for the Bruins. Skjei has generally had a strong playoffs and should bounce back but Vatanen has been quite poor defensively so far with the Hurricanes.
James Reimer got a somewhat surprising start and was solid in the win. While he didn’t necessarily have to make any spectacular saves, he faced a lot of shots and some decent chances. He couldn’t see the first goal then didn’t have much of a chance on the second one, but most importantly, he was better than Tuukka Rask.
That brings me to my next point, which is that Rask hasn’t been the goalie we expected to see. Not to take anything away from the Hurricanes, but considering they’ve been outshot 75-54 in the two games, I’d be concerned if Rask starts to get into a groove.
Regardless, this was a huge win for the Hurricanes. It wasn't a perfect game by any means but now they're right back in the series.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
How did you feel about Jake Gardiner and Nino Niederreiter being scratched?
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