Bruins top Hurricanes to take commanding 3-0 series lead

By Adam GretzMay 14, 2019, 10:59 PM EDT

In the end the goaltending change really didn’t matter much for the Carolina Hurricanes, mostly because the goalie at the end of the ice — Boston’s Tuukka Rask — continued his brilliant postseason performance to help lift the Bruins to a 2-1 Game 3 win.

You might even go as far as to say that Rask stole this one.

The Bruins now have a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final and will have a chance to end it on Thursday night to clinch first Stanley Cup Final appearance since the 2012-13 season.

It had to be a bad omen for the Hurricanes on Tuesday when they dominated the first period and had absolutely nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

Teuvo Teravainen missed a wide open net in the game’s first minute, the power play continued to struggle and failed to capitalize on an extended 5-on-3 advantage, and when they did create a great scoring chance and get the puck on net Rask was nearly unbeatable in the Boston crease.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

After mostly sleepwalking through the first period, the Bruins were able to strike for the game’s first goal just 1:21 into the second period when Chris Wagner scored his second goal of the playoffs.

Just five minutes later Brad Marchand scored on the power play to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead when he got a bit of a fortunate bounce in front of the net to beat Curtis McElhinney for his sixth goal of the playoffs.

McElhinney played good enough to win for the Hurricanes after getting the start over Petr Mrazek, but he had zero margin for error.

That is because the star of the game was Rask.

While he was a little lucky to have Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov both miss the net completely on wide open looks, he was the best player on the ice and kept the Bruins in the game in the first period when they were outshot by a 20-6 margin. They were not all easy saves, either. He was challenged early and often and never flinched, continuing what has been one of the best postseason performances of his career.

The only slip-up he had was late in the second period when a Calvin de Haan shot snuck through his pads to get the Hurricanes on the board. They were never able to beat him again after that, or really even come close.

After sweeping the New York Islanders in Round 2 (after the Islanders swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in Round 1) the Hurricanes are now facing the possibility of being swept themselves.

This was Carolina’s first loss on home ice this postseason and Boston’s sixth win in a row overall.

Game 4 of Bruins-Hurricanes is Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

The Playoff Buzzer: Rask keeps dominating, Hurricanes special teams keep struggling

By Adam GretzMay 15, 2019, 12:12 AM EDT

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Tuukka Rask is the difference in the Eastern Conference Final.
The Carolina Hurricanes’ special teams is also a factor … a negative one for them.
David Krejci reaches a personal postseason milestone for the Bruins.

Boston Bruins 2, Carolina Hurricanes 1 (BOS leads series 3-0)

There are two very big factors for the Boston Bruins’ commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final.

The obvious one is the play of Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask because he has been, in a word, dominant, and he was at his best in the Bruins’ 2-1 Game 3 win on Tuesday night.

The other factor is the fact that Boston’s special teams has completely taken over the series. Carolina had struggled on both the power play and penalty kill in the first two rounds and entered the series near the bottom of the league in both categories in the playoffs. Things have not gotten much better against the Bruins.

After Tuesday’s 0-for-5 night on the power play (including a first period two-man advantage where they did not score), the Hurricanes are just 1-for-12 in the series and have already given up five power play goals to the Bruins on 12 attempts. That is not going to get the job done at this point in the playoffs. Or at any point, really.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

Three Stars

1. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins. Simply the best player on the ice. He stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced and is now up to a .939 save percentage in the playoffs. He kept the Bruins in the game early in the first period when they were getting outshot by a 20-6 margin, holding off the Hurricanes’ initial surge just long enough for the Bruins to finally strike first early in the second period. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game this is some of the best hockey he has ever seen Rask play. You will not see goaltending much better than this from anyone.

2. Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins. He struck again for the Bruins to record his sixth goal and 16th point of the playoffs. His power play goal in the second period goes in the books as the game-winner, which is now his second of the playoffs. Dislike him all you want, he is one of the absolute best players in the NHL and a constant force on the ice.

3. Chris Wagner, Boston Bruins. The Bruins’ fourth line started the scoring early in the second period when Wagner scored his second goal of the series. The unit was strong all night long for the Bruins and continued what has been a solid showing all postseason. The only downside of the night for Wagner and the Bruins is that he exited the game in the third period after blocking a shot and the immediate response from Cassidy after the game did not sound optimistic.

Highlights of the Night

Wagner’s goal came off of a pretty passing play by the Bruins’ fourth line. When you are getting play like this from your bottom line you are going to be in a pretty good position.

Marchand got a little bit of a lucky break on his goal in the second period, but sometimes you need that in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to get the win.

Here is a brief collection of some of Rask’s best saves on the night.

Factoids

The Bruins’ Game 3 win was their sixth in a row, tied for the third-longest postseason winning streak in franchise history. [NHL PR]
David Krejci recorded his 100th career postseason point for the Bruins, tying him for third on the franchise’s all-time playoff scoring leaderboard. [NHL PR]
Rask became the first goalie since Tim Thomas in 2011 to stop at least 20 shots in a postseason period. [NHL PR]
This was the Bruins’ 60th win of the season, including regular season and playoffs, the eighth time in franchise history they have accomplished such a feat. [NHL PR]
The Bruins are one win away from what would be their 20th appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. [NHL PR]

Wednesday’s schedule

Game 3: San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues, 9 p.m. ET, NBCSN (Live Stream) (Series Tied 1-1)

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

Hurricanes turn to Curtis McElhinney for Game 3

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By Adam GretzMay 14, 2019, 7:44 PM EDT

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The Carolina Hurricanes are making a change in net.

After dropping the first two games of the Eastern Conference Final against the Boston Bruins with Petr Mrazek, coach Rod Brind’Amour has decided to go with Curtis McElhinney for Game 3 of the series on Tuesday night.

Ever since Sunday’s 6-2 loss in Boston there had been plenty of discussion as to whether or not the Hurricanes should make a switch. Even though Brind’Amour acknowledged it was a possibility he refused to admit whether or not he was actually going to do it, even as recently as the morning skate on Tuesday.

But after McElhinney led the Hurricanes out on to the ice for warmups before Game 3 it became clear a change was going to happen.

[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

McElhinney picked up three wins for the Hurricanes in their Round 2 series sweep against the New York Islanders (McElhinney started two of the games, after picking up his first win in relief of an injured Mrazek) and will be making his third career postseason start.

The two goalies split the playing time throughout the regular season, so it’s not like the Hurricanes aren’t used to playing in front of both goalies.

In his first three appearances in these playoffs McElhinney has a .947 save percentage, stopping 71 of the 74 shots he has faced.

After giving up 10 goals in the first two games of the series, Mrazek’s save percentage has dipped down to .894 in the playoffs.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

WATCH LIVE: Hurricanes host Bruins in Game 3 of Eastern Conference Final

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By Sean LeahyMay 14, 2019, 7:00 PM EDT

Maple Leafs extend Shanahan’s contract through 2024-25

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By James O'BrienMay 14, 2019, 5:14 PM EDT

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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced an important contract extension on Tuesday, but no, it’s not for Mitch Marner.

Instead, it’s for the man behind the plan to bring in players like Marner. The Maple Leafs handed Brendan Shanahan a six-year extension as team president (and alternate governor), which means that extension runs through 2024-25.

It’s easy to get lost in the particulars of the contract squabbles involving Marner and William Nylander, and two straight postseason defeats to the Boston Bruins, and forget that the Maple Leafs have come a long way since bringing in Shanahan in April 2014. The team’s press release does a nice job of quickly summarizing that success:

The 50-year-old native of Mimico, Ontario first joined the club in April 2014. Since then, the Maple Leafs have earned three consecutive playoff berths (2016-17 through to 2018-19), while recording their most points in a single season (105 in 2017-18) and consecutive 100-point seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) for the first time in franchise history.

The “Shanaplan” involved bringing in Mike Babcock as head coach and convincing Lou Lamoriello to come aboard, and then eventually pass the torch as GM to Kyle Dubas. During that time, the Maple Leafs have made some significant moves, most notably landing John Tavares in free agency.

Of course, the biggest tests lie ahead.

The Maple Leafs must solve the riddle of the Marner contract situation, and the salary cap crunch that is likely to result. Who will they trade to make room for the bigger names, or will this situation demand that the Maple Leafs trade a big name to make it work? Dubas likely carries the heaviest burden in making all of that work, but Shanahan’s almost certain to have some say, even if it’s more of a big picture outlook.

Dubas did what he could to squash rumblings about Babcock’s future, explaining that the Maple Leafs “are all in on Mike, and Mike is all in on us.” Still, the perception is out there that the head coach and GM diverge on some key matters when it comes to running a hockey team, and those rumblings will grow louder during every inevitable rough patch in 2019-20, and possibly beyond.

[Babcock did what he could to clear the air during a volatile time in March.]

Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe also hovers in the background, in part because he might buy into Dubas’ vision more than Babcock, but also because other NHL teams might try to snatch him up as their next head coach.

So, basically, Shanahan faces difficult challenges both on the ice with cap management and behind the scenes with managing people. This has largely been a success when it comes to rebuilding a lump of clay (or worse) into a consistent playoff team, yet it’s arguably even more difficult to make the leap from “good” to “great.”

There could be many more growing pains along the way, but overall, it’s easy to see why the Maple Leafs have so much faith in Shanahan, and the Shanaplan.

(We might be getting to the point where it’s time to retire Shanaplan, though, as great as that word splice is.)

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.