Four times in their history, the Carolina Hurricanes have gone up 2-0 with a pair of wins on home ice to begin a playoff series. In all four of those series, the Hurricanes have gone on to win the series and advance to the next round, including last season when the Hurricanes went up 2-0 on the Predators in the first round. WIth a win tonight, the Hurricanes would take a two-game lead on the Boston Bruins and pile all sorts of pressure on the B’s returning to Boston on Friday.
Vital Statistics
Category |
Hurricanes |
Bruins |
Category |
Hurricanes |
Bruins |
Record |
54-20-8 |
51-26-5 |
Goals/Game |
3.38 |
3.08 |
Goals Against/Game |
2.44 |
2.66 |
Shots/Game |
34.12 |
36.12 |
Face Off Win % |
53.9% |
54.2% |
Power Play % (Rank) |
22.0% (13th) |
21.2% (15th) |
Penalty Kill % (Rank) |
88.0% (1st) |
81.3% (9th) |
ES Corsi For % |
43.86% |
56.14% |
ES PDO |
113.44 |
86.56 |
PIM/Game |
12:00 |
22:00 |
Goaltender #1
Category |
Frederik Andersen |
Linus Ullmark |
Category |
Frederik Andersen |
Linus Ullmark |
Record |
35-14-3 |
26-10-2 |
Save % |
.922 |
.917 |
GAA |
2.17 |
2.45 |
Goaltender #2
Category |
Antti Raanta |
Jeremy Swayman |
Category |
Antti Raanta |
Jeremy Swayman |
Record |
15-5-4 |
23-14-3 |
Save % |
.912 |
.914 |
GAA |
2.45 |
2.41 |
Game Notes
- Antti Raanta was really, really good in Game 1. The numbers back up that hot take: among goaltenders in franchise history making their first playoff start for the club, only Kevin Weekes’ 40-save performance in Game 2 of the 2002 first round against New Jersey featured more saves than Raanta’s 35 on Monday.
- If you want Teuvo Teravainen to shoot the puck more...well, you’re not alone, but maybe your ire is misplaced. Turbo’s goal in Game 1 gives him 13 in his Hurricanes postseason career, only one goal behind Sebastian Aho for tops on the team since the Hurricanes finally returned to the playoffs in 2019.
- Not only are the Bruins historically shaky when losing Game 1 of a series (16-34 all time when down 1-0 in a series), perhaps more concerning for them is the fact that they’re under .500 in Game 2 in that situation. In seven-game series which they trail 1-0, the Bruins are just 22-28 all time in Game 2.
- Jaccob Slavin’s assist in Game 1 pulled him even with Dave Babych as the top-scoring playoff defenseman in franchise history. One more point will give Slavin the outright lead with 21 points in his playoff career.
- The Hurricanes did an impeccable job in shutting down the Bruins’ top line on Monday. Brad Marchand, who hasn’t scored a non-empty net goal since April 2 against Columbus, was -3 for the first time all season, and even Patrice Bergeron was -2 for just the fifth time this season.
- Tonight’s game will again be on ESPN as well as on Bally Sports South in the local market; however, if you’ve relied on ESPN+ this season to watch the Hurricanes, you’ll only be able to watch on ESPN and won’t have the option to watch the Bally feed on ESPN+.
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