Bruins Get Back in Series with Game 3 Win over Carolina

BOSTON - In the playoffs, sometimes all it takes is one play to shift a series.
And on Friday night, the Bruins hope that a first-period shorthanded tally can be just the spark they need to get their opening-round matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes moving in the right direction.
With Boston trailing after once again surrendering the opening goal, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle broke in on a 2-on-1 after collecting a bouncing puck in the neutral zone. DeBrusk then delivered a nifty feed through traffic to Coyle, who directed it past Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov to tie the game with 2:54 to go in the first period.

"When JD and CC made that play shorthanded to get us back in the game, it just changed our whole demeanor," said Brad Marchand. "We've been playing catch-up all series. I think it felt good to know that we can come back in those situations, we can respond the way we have in the past. It's one game, right now it's day-to-day. It feels good to get that one, but it's on to the next."
It's on to the next with a win for the Bruins, who rode the momentum from Coyle's shorthanded marker into four consecutive goals and a 4-2 triumph over the Hurricanes in Game 3 on Friday night at TD Garden.
Marchand, one of four different goal scorers for the Black & Gold - who now trail the best-of-seven series, 2-1 - gave the Bruins their first lead of the series and of the season (six meetings overall) against the Hurricanes when he buried one from the slot at 5:41 of the second period.
"When Marchy scored, that's a big lift for us," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "We got a lead…we got a lead now for the first time against this team since what 2020 or something? It's been a while. Now, all of a sudden, we get to play a little more comfortable game, so there's a lot of those emotions to go through."

Following two difficult losses in Carolina to begin the first round, Boston was facing its first 2-0 series deficit since the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. The postseason adversity they no doubt knew would come arrived far earlier than expected, which made Friday night's response that much more important.
"Some of our guys have been through a lot," said Cassidy. "I am getting farther along myself with some different series. They take on all shapes and forms. [Patrice Bergeron] has addressed the group - even before the playoffs like, 'Listen, you're going to hit adversity sooner or later, and we happened to hit ours early.' The Bruins went through it in '11. They lost their first two at home [against Montreal in the first round], and they battled, clawed back to win in a seven-game series.
"So you can't let what happened the night before affect your mindset….I think that's the difference with playoffs, where with regular season, you're always kind of building and looking back at things, and in playoffs, you can't look too far back, win or lose. You've got to get ready for the next one, anticipate maybe whatever changes you need to make, but be ready to go.
"I think our group is good at that because of the veteran guys that have been around. Even the young guys - [Brandon] Carlo, [Charlie] McAvoy, DeBrusk and [David] Pastrnak, they've all been through playoff series. They know there are highs and lows."

More news and notes from the Bruins' 4-2 victory over the Hurricanes in Game 3:

Feeling Special:In addition to Coyle's shorthanded marker and a perfect 5-for-5 showing on the penalty kill, the Bruins' power-play finally broke through for a pair of goals in five opportunities. Pastrnak scored his first of the playoffs to make it 3-1 with 5:07 to go in the second period when he beat Kochetkov on a wrister with just seconds remaining on the man advantage, which had started as a 1:31 5-on-3.
"It takes a little bit. Sometimes some teams play a forward on you and some come with D to block," Pastrnak said of figuring out Carolina's No. 1-ranked penalty kill. "You have to always adjust a little bit to each side you're shooting at. They are a pretty good penalty kill but at the same time, our PP wasn't great so it was getting a little bit in our head.
"I think we were causing our own problems within ourselves and not them making it any harder for us. Good that we got one. It took a while and a lot of patience, so it was a big one and hopefully we can take over from now."
The winger was at it again on the power play in the third period when he played give-and-go with Taylor Hall, who deposited his second of the series by Kochetkov to put Boston ahead, 4-1, at 4:08 of the final frame.
"I don't think he hesitated. I think he just faked the pass and kind of froze him a little bit and when he didn't pass, he might have relaxed a little bit and the puck got through," Pastrnak said of Hall's deke before his initial feed across the slot. "I felt like earlier in that same shift, I missed the net, so I just went back to him. He made, obviously, a great play and way to stick with it."

That's A First:Jeremy Swayman made his first career postseason start as Cassidy opted for a switch in goal after Linus Ullmark got the call for the opening two games of the series. Swayman did not disappoint in his inaugural playoff foray as he made 25 saves on 27 shots during a stellar effort between the pipes.
"Do everything you can to win. Simple," Swayman said of his mindset entering the night. "That was special. The only other time I had was last year when COVID allowed fans to come in, so that was electric. But it's a great experience every time you walk into a full building here and playoffs is a whole other level. It was so great to get the win in front of our hometown [fans] tonight."
As he has across the first two seasons of his career, Swayman showed off his patented poise and resolve during some of the game's most frantic moments.
"I thought he played great, he made some huge saves at timely moments of the game where it could've changed the outcome," said Marchand. "He seemed to be very composed. It's a high-pressure game tonight. We knew the magnitude of the game and he came in, he was prepared. But I think that's what we kind of expected from him.
"He's had the drive and the will all year to be a great player for this team. I think he was excited for the opportunity, gotta give him a lot of credit."
Given his strong performance, Cassidy indicated that Swayman will be back in goal for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.
"Well, that's his demeanor, and I think that won't change. The further we go along, some of that will get tested obviously for a young guy. These are the most important games he has probably ever played, so we'll see," said Cassidy. "But we knew that about him. And right up to the end, we weren't sure who would be our Game 1 [starter]. We just felt Ullmark had the better finish, so that's the way we went.
"He worked on his game in between. You never know if you're going to get a shot if the other guy stays hot. He got his opportunity; he was ready for it. I think it says what it always has: he is a good pro for a young guy. He's a really good pro. He'll get tested again Sunday, but he passed his first one."

Building Blocks: The unsung hero of the night for Boston was Derek Forbort who was immense on the penalty kill with a team-high 6:46 of shorthanded time on ice. The blue liner also edged out Charlie McAvoy (23:06) by a second to lead the B's in overall ice time (23:07). For the night, the 6-foot-4, 217-pounder blocked a remarkable nine shots.
"I love that guy. He's the man," said Swayman. "He's been doing that all year for us, too. Nothing new from him, he does everything for the team, for the crest. It shows and guys play hard for him, and he does the same for us. It's an awesome person to have in front of me."
Marchand said that Forbort is the type of player "that you win with in the playoffs" because of his willingness to put their body on the line every shift.
"He's one of those guys that plays the game that guys don't want to play. He sacrifices every night for the group. Puts his body in harm's way," said Marchand. "You have to be able to have guys that are willing to put their bodies on the line every night and risk getting hurt every night if you wanna go deep. He's a huge reason.
"He blocks some really good opportunities from that team over there. He has all year; he's the reason we're in the position we're in. He's a big reason we won tonight. And a huge reason why the PK was good at big moments tonight. Gotta give him a ton of credit.
"Sometimes those guys that eat pucks don't get the credit they deserve. It's great that he's getting that recognition because you don't win without guys like that."
Cassidy also lauded Forbort for his effort in Game 3, while saying that the defenseman is well regarded within the dressing room.
"He really showed his value tonight," said Cassidy. "He's a popular guy. He is very quiet, doesn't say much, talks about him and his dog, his simple life, but he's got personality when you get to know him. Guys root for guys like that.
"He was brought in to be that type of stay at home, try to be a stiff defender, keep the puck of your net, shot blocker, really good on the PK, and he's been as advertised…those are the guys that make a difference in these types of games, too.
"You need your scorers to score and your kind of muckers and checkers to be physical and block shots. That's what makes a well-run machine, and I think that was good."

Pop at the Top: Cassidy reunited Pastrnak with Bergeron and Marchand for Game 3 and the trio picked up right where it left off months ago as they combined for six points on the night. Per NHL Stats, Boston improved to 18-4 in the playoffs when all three record a point.
"We knew that was coming," said Swayman. "They've been bringing it all year and they are gonna show up in the big times. We know that they're gonna bring it every night and their attention to detail off ice on practice days, it's unmatched. You know it's gonna breakthrough and I think they're just getting started."
Marchand ended the night with a goal and two assists and moved past Rick Middleton, while tying Phil Esposito for third place on Boston's all-time postseason goals list with the 46th of his playoff career.
"I think it's the most I've felt engaged. Kind of been a little while since I've felt that into a game," said Marchand. "I think the importance of the situation that you're in, it hit us all. Guys just seem like they were prepared when they got to the rink tonight.
"But that's the desperation they've been playing with since Game 1. And that's what we need to play with every day moving forward. It's a good lesson for us to continue to learn and again, we need to keep playing like that."