Bruins Drop Second Straight, Shutout by Hurricanes in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. - It was one of those nights for the Boston Bruins.
Taylor Hall had a tap-in from the doorstep and the puck skittered wide of the net. Jake DeBrusk had a breakaway and the shot buzzed by the post. Jack Studnicka had a chance all alone in front and the attempt was whacked aside.

The Bruins had their opportunities but couldn't beat Carolina Hurricanes netminder Freddie Andersen and found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 decision at PNC Arena on Thursday for their second loss in as many nights.
"You talk about the process and how you want to play all season long," said Hall. "I thought there was some really good parts to our game. I thought 5-on-5 there was a lot that we can take from it. The power play was a bit of a letdown. But some really good players on the ice there and you trust them over the course of the year to make plays and produce. Back to the drawing board a little bit there.
"Coming into a building against a team that's hard to play against on a back-to-back, thought we controlled play pretty well 5-on-5."
Carolina struck for tallies in the closing minutes of the first and second periods, as Tony D'Angelo (15:16 of the first) and Nino Niederreiter (13:35 of the second) beat Jeremy Swayman on deflections off Bruins' defenders. The Hurricanes added an empty-netter with 25 seconds to go.
"Both their goals went in off our guys, so we had two own goals," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "I think we kept coming against a good team, a rested team. A little different luck around the net, I think it's a different outcome. Couple games in a row now we haven't been able to generate much so we need to look at that and see, is it tough luck or are we just not doing it well enough?"

Power Outage

The Bruins, as Hall described, went toe to toe with the Hurricanes at even strength, but the power play struggled mightily to cash in, going 0-for-5 on the evening, while Carolina struck once in five tries of its own. Boston had three power plays in the third period alone, including a minute-long 5-on-3 early in the final frame.
Overall, the B's man advantage is now just 2 for 16 (12.5%) on the season, ranking 26th in the NHL.
"We're just not in sync right now," said Brad Marchand. "I just think that we might be forcing it a little bit where we get pucks back and maybe we're trying to rush to make the play instead of settling down, kind of getting to our spots, and getting set up. And then we get frustrated and it kind of snowballs from there. I think we just have to kind of calm down out there and win battles. It starts from there."
Marchand, a staple of Boston's top unit for years, believes the Bruins must get back to winning loose pucks.
"We've always been a power play that we thrive when we win battles, get pucks back and to the net, win another battle…the PK gets tired and we capitalize," said Marchand. "We've got to get back to doing that and realize what kind of power play unit we are and hopefully we'll start connecting."
Hall, meanwhile, added that another part of the problem is the lack of a shooting mentality.
"Easy to say that when you see plays and you see guys open, you want to make that extra little play, but at this point in the year, you just want to get some momentum and some confidence on there," said Hall. "I think the best way to do that is get pucks back after shots and play that way."
The winger had Boston's best power-play chance of the evening in the third period as he parked out at the top of the crease and had a wide-open net in which to deposit a Marchand feed that would have pulled the Bruins within a goal. But the puck went back through the blue paint and out the other side.
"I don't know if their guy kind of whacked my stick a little bit at the end or if I just literally shot it out of the net," said Hall. "Bit of a mistake there, but I think if you notice we're a little bit tight with our sticks, gripping our sticks a little bit tight. I think if everyone, myself included, is feeling uber confident, that's just an easy play, easy backdoor tap in and right now those aren't being given to us.
"We have to work for it and we have to put our heads down and keep grinding and figure out a way to produce - but without cheating the game."

Measuring Up

Boston lost both games of the back-to-back against undefeated opponents, as the Panthers and Hurricanes improved to 7-0 and 6-0, respectively. Despite the setbacks, the Bruins came out of the two-game trip feeling like they held their own in both contests.
"They're both very good teams," said Marchand. "Got to give them credit. We knew they were gonna be good coming in. I think we can play with both of them; there were times within the game where they controlled it, times where we controlled both games. We just didn't capitalize on our chances, and they got a couple lucky bounces that turned the tide.
"I think there are some things that we need to continue to work on and get better and that's all you've got to do with these games…there's a lot of games in a season and we just have to take what we need to get better on and work at it and go from there."
Cassidy was particularly pleased with how his club competed, especially on Thursday night in the second end of a back-to-back against a well-rested opponent.
"We lost both games so in the big picture, you are what your record says you are…yet I think both games were very winnable," said Cassidy. "A little bit of puck luck today, you come away with two points…I loved our compete today. We were ready to play. We were in for a good solid hockey game, and we got one. But I don't think we shied away from any of that, we just didn't finish well."

Zboril Subs In

Jakub Zboril made his season debut, subbing in for Connor Clifton. The blue liner landed four hits and a shot on goal in 15:03 of ice time.
"He got going. He didn't have a good first period," said Cassidy. "In fairness to him, he hasn't played. This is a tough first environment to play in. But he's not a kid either. He understands what's at stake. He's in the lineup tonight not because someone's hurt.
"That was the message to him. There's an opportunity to grab a spot so get your game up to speed as you go along. I thought he did get better as the game went along. We'll take a close look at it."