Charlie McAvoy scored the only goal for the Boston Bruins in the 4-1 loss Tuesday night at TD Garden.
The Boston Bruins went into PNC Arena five days ago and handed the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-1 loss. On Tuesday, Carolina returned the favor at TD Garden with a 4-1 win of its own.
Charlie McAvoy called it playoff hockey. Not just because of the intensity of the matchup, but the swings in momentum and performance between two teams in a short period of time.
“This is just one game tonight. It’s hard to win in this league, and it is a grind overall,” McAvoy said Tuesday. “We’re going to see these teams again, and it’s who is going to adapt and be able to elevate from beginning of the series to end of series.”
McAvoy scored the lone goal for the Bruins to put them within one heading into the third period, but the Hurricanes had a heightened killer instinct and didn’t allow Boston to reboot as they closed out the win.
“I think we got them last time pretty good in their barn, seemed like they came ready to play. Have to give them credit, it was a tough-checking game to start,” Trent Frederic said Tuesday.
While the first period showed just four shots on goal for each side, it was a high-flying, physical 20 minutes with a combined 33 hits thrown – 18 from the Bruins, 15 from Carolina. Andrew Peeke finished the night with a team-leading eight hits.
Jeremy Swayman made some strong stops – namely on Seth Jarvis while on the breakaway – to keep things knotted at 0-0 in the second period, but the Hurricanes eventually broke through.
Andrei Svechnikov put Carolina up 1-0 at 10:55 with a highlight reel, lacrosse-style goal. The forward scooped the puck up behind the net before hooking it around Swayman’s right shoulder and in while Peeke and Parker Wotherspoon stood in front of the crease.
“He’s so good at that, I couldn’t believe it,” Swayman said Tuesday. “It’s something that I will work on in a skills practice tomorrow – work on stopping that thing.”
Carolina doubled its advantage less than three minutes later off a slippery shot from Svechnikov that redirected off Teuvo Teravainen’s stick, past Hampus Lindholm and into the back of the net. The Hurricanes took advantage of a Bruins team that came out flat in the middle frame and logged only two shots on goal by the eight-minute mark.
“I don’t think we really played in the offensive zone too much,” Frederic said.
McAvoy got Boston back into the game with a rocket from the left circle after Jakub Lauko’s shot was blocked and popped out onto the defenseman’s tape. The play marked McAvoy’s second goal in as many games and 12th of the season.
The Hurricanes extended their lead in the third period with knock-in goal from Jake Guentzel
From the left doorstep at 10:14 to make it 3-1, and then capitalized on their league-best penalty kill to put the Bruins away.
Guentzel was sent to the box for hooking at 13:12 – giving Boston its third power play of the night – but Carolina was the only one to benefit from the call. Brady Skeji quickly cleared the puck out of the zone and up to Jarvis on the rush who picked up the rebound of his initial shot and wrapped it around and in for the 4-1 lift.
The Bruins’ power play has struggled as of late, scoring just twice on its last 27 chances.
“Obviously isn’t something we want to do in our own barn, but I think it’s good for us moving forward in understanding that no team’s going to be soft on us just because there’s four games left in the season, so it’s our job to get punched in the face and get back up,” Swayman said.
The Bruins will be back in action Saturday as they face the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena for a 8 p.m. puck drop.
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