Game 2 Preview: Hurricanes vs. Bruins

TORONTO - Around 29 hours after facing off in Game 1, it's right back to it for the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins in the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins claimed victory in Game 1, taking a 4-3 double-overtime decision on Patrice Bergeron's game-winner.

"Any time you lose in the playoffs, especially in overtime, it's obviously a stinger. It's what I thought was going to happen, unfortunately. I knew they were going to play a good hockey game and we were going to get the best of the Bruins. I thought they were really good. I was afraid we were going to be a little sluggish, and we were," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "They played a better game than we did overall, but I thought we got back into it a little, but we weren't good enough to win that game."

Revisiting Game 1

Though the Bruins drew first blood in the series, it's not all bad news for the Canes. They didn't have their best for much of the day on Wednesday - for a team known for puck possession and shot volume, they generated just nine shots on goal through the first two periods - but still managed to push the Presidents' Trophy winners to double overtime and were a shot away from swinging the result in the opposite direction.

"As a group, we didn't love our effort. We didn't do some of the things we're known for and what makes us a good, gritty team. I thought there were some shifts here and there, but they played a good game. We have to be better if we want to beat the best," Jordan Staal said. "We didn't have our best tonight, but we'll go right back into it tomorrow."

That's another positive for the Canes: Instead of sitting around, stewing on the heartbreaker, they wipe the slate clean and get right back after it the next night.

"When you lose a game like that, you definitely don't want to marinate on it too long," Brind'Amour said. "We've got a chance to come back and play right away. That's good, especially since we've been sitting for so long. We'll try to shore up a couple of things and then get right back at it. That's what you want."

Dougie's Back

After missing the final 21 games of the regular season and the three games of the Cup Qualifiers, Dougie Hamilton returned to the Canes' lineup against his former team.

Hamilton skated in a familiar spot alongside Jaccob Slavin and manned the point on the Canes' top power-play unit. In total, he recorded six shot attempts and blocked three shots in 26:48 of ice time.

Video: "As a group we didn't love our effort."

Having now flushed any and all first-game-back jitters - in the pressure-cooked environment of the postseason, no less - expect to see the Canes' would-have-been All Star to become more dominant as the series plays out.

Killing It

The Bruins' power play nearly single-handedly carried them through a four-game sweep of the 2019 Eastern Conference Final, when they were a lethal 7-for-15. They followed it up in the 2019-20 regular season with the second-best power play in the league.

The Canes' penalty kill in Game 1, though, was tack sharp. The kill was a perfect 4-for-4, limiting the Bruins to just three shots on their man advantages, and ticked the scoresheet with a shorthanded goal to tie the game at two in the second period.

"They have a great power play, so we don't want to be taking all these penalties," Brind'Amour said. "[The shorthanded goal] got us back in the game and gave us a chance, anyway, to pull out a win. The penalty kill was good."

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