Andersen makes 34 saves, Hurricanes shut out Bruins

BOSTON -- Frederik Andersen made 34 saves for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 6-0 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday.

It was Andersen's second shutout of the season. Each has come against the Bruins; he made 33 saves in a 3-0 win on Oct. 28.
"The game could have been flipped (in the first four minutes)," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "If they had got a power-play goal, the game could be way different, so that was a huge part of the game. [Andersen] was great and we were able to settle down and get playing."

Sebastian Aho scored twice, and Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and two assists for the Hurricanes (32-10-3), who outscored the Bruins 16-1 in a three-game sweep of the season series. Teuvo Teravainen had three assists after missing four games because of a lower-body injury.
"They're a really good team," Teravainen said. "In the playoffs they beat us a couple times, so that for sure makes us even more hungry to beat these guys. They play tough and are a good team, but we just stuck to our game plan and played a good game."
Linus Ullmark made 37 saves for the Bruins (26-16-3), who have lost three of their past four. They played without center Patrice Bergeron, who is day to day because of an upper-body injury sustained Tuesday in a 4-2 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and forward Brad Marchand, who on Wednesday was suspended six games for roughing and high-sticking Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry.
"There just was not enough pushback," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "So, how are we going to weather [their absences]? We're certainly going to need a little more pushback from guys who are expected to bring it, and some other veteran guys that might not but have to step up in their absence. We were lacking both tonight in huge quantities."
Vincent Trocheck gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 8:26 of the first period on a rebound in front for a power-play goal.
Svechnikov made it 2-0 at 2:35 of the second period after Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo turned over the puck in the slot.
Aho scored on a rebound at 8:01 to make it 3-0. It was his 20th goal of the season.
"At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what the score is," Aho said. "Obviously you want to win those games and get those two points. There's history between them and us. … So, for sure, you want to have that fire in you to win those games, but the score doesn't matter. It's just the two points, and obviously we'll take it."

Brett Pesce made it 4-0 at 14:02 with a wrist shot through traffic from the top of the right face-off circle.
Aho scored his second of the game at 1:58 of the third period with a between-the-legs redirection of Teravainen's pass to make it 5-0, and Jordan Staal ended a 35-game goal drought at 15:24 for the 6-0 final.
It was Staal's first goal since Oct. 29 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"It was a long time, obviously, not scoring, but we were winning a lot of hockey games," Staal said. "In this group, there's a lot of guys who can score goals. We're just trying to play the right way and do the right things and win games, but it's definitely nice to get one."
Andersen made 12 saves in the third period.
NOTES: Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk left the game at 14:54 of the second period because of an upper-body injury after a collision with Svechnikov. Cassidy did not have an update. … The Hurricanes joined the 1952-53 Detroit Red Wings as the only teams to score 10 straight goals in a single season against the Bruins in Boston. … Aho is the third player in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history to have six consecutive 20-goal seasons to begin his NHL career, joining Ron Francis (10) and Kevin Dineen (six), who each did so with Hartford. ... Carolina was eliminated by Boston in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final and the 2020 Stanley Cup First Round.