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The Carolina Hurricanes' series lead over the Boston Bruins was cut to 2-1 last night, following a 4-2 loss in Game 3.
The Hurricanes came out stronger early in the first period than they had in Games 1 and 2, managing to open the scoring midway through the frame, with Vincent Trocheck burying a rebound in front. Carolina outplayed the Bruins through much of the frame but then with under three minutes in the frame, a shorthanded goal from the Bruins tied it, with Charlie Coyle finishing off a nice pass from Jake DeBrusk on a rush, leaving the teams tied through 20 minutes.
A little over five minutes into the second frame, Brad Marchand managed to give the Bruins a lead, bringing the puck across the crease in front and beating Kochetkov. While most of the period was pretty even, the Bruins really pressed on a power play opportunity later and after some chances, David Pastrnak beat Kochetkov, who didn’t really seem ready to react to the shot. Boston outshot the Hurricanes 13-8 in the frame and took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
Things didn’t get better in the third period, as the Bruins capitalized on another power play, with David Pastrnak finding Taylor Hall with a nice pass in front, and Hall buried it, making it a 4-1 game. Jaccob Slavin did manage to pull the game back to within one with a well-placed point shot, but that’s as close as the Hurricanes would come, falling 4-2.
Special teams made a huge difference in this one. The Hurricanes went 0-for-5 on the power play, while surrendering two power play goals to the Bruins, along with a shorthanded goal to initially let them back into the game. Carolina had been playing a strong game early on but giving up the shorthanded goal did sink their momentum.
Kochetkov gave up four goals on 28 shots but really other than the Pastrnak goal, he didn’t have much of a chance on Boston’s other tallies. That said, given that Antti Raanta was healthy enough to back up, there’s a good chance we see Raanta start Game 4.
It wasn’t the Hurricanes' best game, but they can still take a commanding series lead with a win in Game 4 tomorrow.
QuizWiz
OTHER ARTICLES FROM MAY
Playoff Preview: Hurricanes vs. Bruins
Antti Raanta shines as Hurricanes beat Bruins 5-1 in Game 1
Hurricanes sign Alexander Pashin
Pyotr Kochetkov steps up for Hurricanes in Game 2 win 
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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