Follow me on Twitter:
@BenShelley_20
Follow HockeyBuzz Hurricanes on Twitter:
@HB_Canes
The Carolina Hurricanes open their first round playoff series against the Boston Bruins tomorrow night.
It marks the fourth year in a row in which the Hurricanes have reached the playoffs and facing the Bruins will make for an interesting matchup. While the Bruins eliminated Carolina from the playoffs in both 2019 and 2020, the Hurricanes dominated Boston this season, outscoring the Bruins 16-1 over their three wins.
Breaking down the matchup in different areas, the Hurricanes finished ninth in goals this season, while the Bruins finished 15th. For the Hurricanes, they have their top stars up front in Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, along with Teuvo Teravainen and Vincent Trocheck. Despite the talent listed there, just in terms of offensive production, they’re edged out by Boston’s top forwards in Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Taylor Hall.
In terms of secondary scoring, the Bruins will get offense from Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Erik Haula and Craig Smith, though the the Hurricanes can rely on Martin Necas, Nino Niederreiter, Seth Jarvis, Jordan Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jesper Fast and Max Domi. I’d argue that while Boston may have the more dangerous top forwards, the Hurricanes have the better overall depth, with bottom-six forwards who can produce and a strong emphasis on defensive reliability as well.
Defensively, Charlie McAvoy remains the Bruins’ key on the blue line, and acquiring Hampus Lindholm was a big addition as well. Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk are very solid defenders too, while Connor Clifton, Derek Forbort and Mike Reilly provide depth.
That said, it’s hard to beat Carolina’s defense group. Jaccob Slavin is one of the league’s best defenders, quietly scoring 42 points this season as well, while Brett Pesce remains strong defensively and Tony DeAngelo has made a major impact, scoring 51 points in just 64 games. Brady Skjei also had a huge bounce back year and Ian Cole, Ethan Bear and Brendan Smith are all capable depth defenders.
For perspective, the Hurricanes allowed the fewest goals and shots against this season, while the Bruins allowed the fourth-fewest goals and third-fewest shots. Both teams are very well-equipped defensively, but a slight edge goes to Carolina.
Then in net, Boston has a very capable tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, with the two netminders splitting games this year and posting .917 and .914 save percentages respectively. On paper, you can’t bet against Frederik Andersen’s year, posting a .922 save percentage, though he’s currently injured and has been ruled out for Game One. Antti Raanta does provide a very good backup option, while Pyotr Kochetkov has been solid in limited action, but neither is up to Andersen's level.
Despite the numbers, there's going to be uncertainty around each team’s situation in net for the playoffs. Neither Ullmark or Swayman has ever started an NHL playoff game, while Andersen has a postseason track record of letting in bad goals at very key times and Raanta has still actually never started a playoff game either, despite appearing in five throughout his career.
In terms of special teams, Carolina ranked 13th on the power play while the Bruins ranked 15th. However, the Hurricanes had the best penalty kill in the league this year, with Boston sitting ninth overall.
No matter how you break it down, this is a pretty evenly-matched series. Andersen’s injury does hurt Carolina but we don’t know the extent of it and how long he’ll be out. The reality is that while I think the Hurricanes seem to have a slight edge going in on paper, especially with their success against Boston this season, it’s going to be a really interesting matchup.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Hurricanes Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow
@HB_Canes for updates on articles, Hurricanes news, etc.***
QuizMaker 
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»