BOSTON — Admit it, Bruins fans: You entered Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final expecting the Carolina Hurricanes to be a relative cakewalk. Sure, they might push Boston on occasion, but compared to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets, they’ll be dismissed with ease.
Well, if Thursday night didn’t convince you that Carolina is for real, nothing will.
The Hurricanes were the better team for much of Game 1, outshooting the Bruins 25-18 through two periods and taking a 2-1 lead into the final frame. Had it not been for two Dougie Hamilton penalties and another from Jordan Staal, a raucous TD Garden crowd and brief moments of brilliance from the Bruins, Carolina easily could have stolen the series opener.
Instead, the Bruins rode a pair of power-play goals and some inspired late-game play to a 5-2 victory and a 1-0 series lead.
But make no mistake: The Hurricanes, who beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals in Round 1 and swept the New York Islanders in Round 2, are capable of playing with — and even beating — the Bruins. From punching back after Boston took an early lead to skating circles around the Bruins in the second period, the fast and physical Hurricanes were awfully impressive in Game 1.
“They funnel a lot of pucks to the net, they’re always looking for sticks, their D-men are pretty active,” Bruins blueliner Conor Clifton said during the postgame. “I think it’s pretty important to get our box-outs and our stick lifts (in front of the net).
” … It’s the Eastern Conference Final. Obviously, they had a pretty good push in the second. Tuukka (Rask) came up big, and we matched it.”
Added Chris Wagner: “They’re also hard around the net, too. I think we did a pretty good job of boxing out, especially in the third and clearing the garbage up.”
If the Bruins are going to beat the Hurricanes, they’ll need to neutralize Carolina’s top line of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. In particular, Aho (one goal, three shots on net) is a player capable of giving the Bruins fits.
“That’s kind of their sneaky line, they find each other a lot and they get lost on the side of the net,” Rask said. “A lot of time it kind of looks like a nothing play, they just fold those pucks in there, and then they find each other and it’s an open chance.”
Let’s not get things twisted. The Bruins are better than the Hurricanes, are more experienced than the Hurricanes and, in the end, should beat the Hurricanes. At this point, if Boston failed to make it to the Stanley Cup Final, it would be a major disappointment.
That said, this is hockey, a sport in which the “favorite” never truly is such and the “underdog” is anything but. And if Thursday’s game offered any indication, it’s that Carolina is a team that needs to be taken seriously.
Here are some other notes from Bruins-Hurricanes Game 1:
— The Bruins now have an all-time record of 53-49 in game ones of best-of-seven series.
— Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara left late in the first period after blocking a shot off his ankle. He played the rest of the game, though, and said his return never was in doubt.
— Marcus Johansson scored a game-tying goal in the third, giving him three goals and four assists in his last seven games.
— Steven Kampfer scored his first career playoff goal in just his second career playoff game. The veteran defenseman was inserted into the lineup to replace Charlie McAvoy, who was suspended one game for his check to the head on Blue Jackets winger Josh Anderson.
“Outstanding,” Chara said of Kampfer after the game. “For a player that’s been out of the lineup for quite some time … It’s not easy to come into a playoff game.
“He did a hell of a job.”
