Boston's struggles against Carolina do continue. They've now lost all three games against the Hurricanes so far this year. So that's 0-3-0 against the Hurricanes, 28-9-1 against the rest of the NHL. Carolina, meanwhile, is 3-0-0 against Boston and 13-23-7 against rest of league. Proof that it's often about matchups in this league, and the Bruins don't match up well against this club.
They'll try to get back on track Monday in Florida as they continue their four-game road trip against the Panthers.
Third Period, 19:07, Hurricanes 4-2: Tempers flare late as Bryan Allen hacks Milan Lucic with the stick. Lucic drops the gloves to go after Allen, who quickly drops into the turtle. Both players get slashing calls and it will be 4 on 4 from here on out.
Third Period, 18:30, Hurricanes 4-2: The Hurricanes add the dagger as Eric Staal scores into the empty net with Thomas pulled for the extra attacker.
Third Period, 18:30, Hurricanes 3-2: The Hurricanes take their first lead of the night off another deflection in front.
Jay Harrison sends in the shot after blocking a Bruins clearing attempt, and the puck appeared to hit off Dennis Seidenberg in front and past Thomas.
Third Period, 15:31, 2-2: Nathan Horton with a bid in transition as the Bruins quickly counter a Carolina rush, but Ward flashes out a pas to turn the bid aside.
Third Period, 13:58, 2-2: The Hurricanes do tie it with another deflection in front off a point shot by Justin Faulk.
Jiri Tlusty provided the screen in front and possibly the deflection. The goal was reviewed, but it is upheld and the game is tied.
Third Period, 12:10, Bruins 2-1: The Hurricanes with a chance in front as Eric Staal leads a 2 on 1 down low. He keeps the puck on the left, gets Thomas to commit and slips the puck through him, but it slides wide and the Bruins maintain their one-goal lead.
Third Period, 9:36, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins counter right away with their own bid in front, but Cam Ward robs Jordan Caron from the top of the crease.
Third Period, 9:10, Bruins 2-1: Jussi Jokinen almost gets in alone for a breakaway, but Tim Thomas comes way out of the net to poke it away.
Third Period, 4:00, Bruins 2-1: Adam McQuaid in pain on the bench after blocking a blast by Bryan Allen from the left point.
Third Period, 1:21, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins strike again early in the third period, this time with Milan Lucic giving Boston the lead again.
Lucic picked the top far corner with a perfect strike from the right circle. David Krejci gets the assist to extend his point streak to 11 games.
Third Period, 0:00, 1-1: The final frame is under way in Raleigh. The Bruins are 4-3-0 when tied after two and have outscored opponents 61-24 in the third. Carolina is just 4-9-2 when tied going into the third, where they have been outscored 64-44.
Second Intermission Notes: Both sides picked up the pace a bit in the second and each were rewarded with a goal as it now stands at 1-1 after 40 minutes in Raleigh.
The Bruins are putting plenty of pucks on Cam Ward, but he's doing a good job keeping them out of the net. The Bruins have a 23-14 edge in shots, including 12-8 in the second, but have just the one goal to show from it. Ward is giving up rebounds though. That led to Boston's lone goal and they have to continue to crease the crease looking for second-chance opportunities as Ward isn't going to let many first looks get past him.
Johnny Boychuk has attempted seven shots already, getting four through to the net. One of those produced the rebound for Patrive Bergeron's goal. Boychuk also has three blocked shots to go with his assist in 14:01 in a strong all-around effort so far.
There were no penalties in the second. The Bruins have not been whistled for a call yet and the Hurricanes have just two minors. That's a far cry from the last meeting, which produced a combined 94 PIMs, 72 going against Boston.
End Second Period, 1-1: The Bruins and Hurricanes exchanged goals in the middle frame and will head into the third deadlocked at 1-1. Gregory Campbell nearly gave the Bruins the lead back in the final minute, but his stuff attempt at the right post was denied by Cam Ward.
Second Period, 16:50, 1-1: The Bruins starting to surge back a bit themselves. Joe Corvo steals a clearing attempt at the blue line and sends it in down low to Horton in front, but Ward gets the pokecheck in and the puck hops up over the net.
Second Period, 14:20, 1-1: The Hurricanes have been surging since that goal. Thomas has been weathering the storm so far, but the Bruins need to start tilting this ice back in the other direction again as Carolina has firmly taken hold of the momentum for now.
Second Period, 10:30, 1-1: The Hurricanes pull even on a great play by Brandon Sutter.
Sutter steals the puck from Greg Campbell from behind as Campbell tried to carry it out of the zone. Sutter then fires in a blast from the high slot that was deflected in front by Patrick Dwyer past Thomas.
Second Period, 9:53, Bruins 1-0: Bergeron bids for another goal on a give and go with Pouliot, but his shot goes just wide.
Second Period, 7:50, Bruins 1-0: The Hurricanes nearly answer right back, but Thomas holds the fort against multiple chances in front after Brandon Sutter's initial shot from the right wing.
Second Period, 6:13, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins finally break through and grab the lead as Patrice Bergeron bangs home a rebound in front.
Johnny Boychuk sent in the initial shot from the right point and Bergeron corralled the rebound in the right slot and flipped it home.
Second Period, 3:46, 0-0: The Bruins threaten again, this time with pressure from the fourth line leading to a chance in front for Shawn Thornton.
Second Period, 0:59, 0-0: The Bruins with an early bid as Lucic uses his strength to shield the puck coming around behind the net, cuts out front and find Krejci for a one-timer from the left circle, but Ward slides over for the pad save.
Second Period, 0:00, 0-0: The middle frame is under way in Carolina, where the Bruins and Hurricanes are both trying to break this scoreless stalemate.
First Intermission Notes: It was a relatively sleepy first period in Carolina with neither team able to score. the Bruins had the better chances and finished with an 11-6 edge in shots, but weren't able to get any of those attempts past Cam Ward.
Boston couldn't convert two early power plays, and that failure to jump out quickly could come back to haunt the Bruins.
Alexei Ponikarovsky has three shots for Caroline, while the rest of the Hurricanes have combined for just three. Carolina does have an 11-4 edge in hits, and the Bruins could use a little more of their usual energy and physical play. Boston does hold its customary advantage in the faceoff circle, going 11-8 on draws (58 percent).
End First Period, 0-0: The opening frame is in the books and neither team was able to get on the scoreboard as the clubs head to the first intermission in a scoreless deadlock.
First Period, 18:01, 0-0: Thomas with his biggest stops of the night so far as he robs Alexei Ponikarovsky on a pair of quick chances in front to keep this one scoreless.
First Period, 14:28, 0-0: The Bruins with a lot of pressure from the Bergeron line, buzzing around the net for multiple chances, but still can't get anything past Cam Ward.
First Period, 11:33, 0-0: The Bruins nearly strike first as Tyler Seguin directs a mid-air tip just wide from in front off an airborne pass from Patrice Bergeron. That would have been a highlight-reel goal had Seguin been able to get it on net.
First Period, 8:41, 0-0: The Bruins can't get much going on that power-play chance, struggling to even get set up in the Carolina zone before Samson is released from the box.
First Period, 6:41, 0-0: The Bruins go right back on the power play as Jerome Samson gets called for tripping after a dangerous knee-on-knee hit on Chris Kelly.
First Period, 5:57, 0-0: The Bruins created some chances, the best coming from Tyler Seguin off a nifty crossing pass by Milan Lucic, but they can't convert on the power play and the sides are back at even strength.
First Period, 3:57, 0-0: The Bruins will get an early power-play chance as Eric Staal is sent to the box for elbowing Benoit Pouliot out at center ice.
First Period, 3:02, 0-0: The Bruins roll through all four lines in the opening three minutes and each unit creates some possession time in the Carolina zone as the Bruins appear to have their skating legs in this one with a solid start.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And this road trip is under way, with the Bruins taking on the Hurricanes in Carolina to kick off the four-game journey.
7 p.m.: The Bruins will open this one with the red-hot David Krejci between Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, with former Hurricanes Dennis Seidenberg and Joe Corvo on defense and Tim Thomas in goal. Krejci is riding an NHL-best 10-game point streak.
Carolina counters with Andreas Nodl, Brandon Sutter and Patrick Dwyer up front, Tim Gleason and Bryan Allen on the blue line and Cam Ward in net.
6:55 p.m.: The Bruins have made it official, scratching Zach Hamill and Steven Kampfer along with the suspended Marchand.
Chad LaRose (upper body) and Jaroslav Spacek (face) both out for Carolina, which does not have any healthy scratches. Jeff Skinner still not activated from injured reserve, so he's not officially a scratch, but will not play in this one.
6:40 p.m.: The Bruins shouldn't have any lineup changes for this one. Claude Julien indicated this morning that Jordan Caron will remain in the lineup, leaving Zach Hamill as the scratch up front.
Steven Kampfer should remain the odd man out on defense and Brad Marchand will served the third game of his five-game suspension.
6:30 p.m.: Tim Thomas and Cam Ward led the teams out for warm-ups down in Raleigh.
That will be the matchup in goal for this one.
6 p.m.: The Bruins will open their latest road trip in about an hour when they drop the puck in Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Bruins held just an optional skate in the morning, with 11 players taking the ice. that included Tuukka Rask, who got in some extra work in the session. That could indicate that Tim Thomas will get the start again, but Claude Julien was mum on his choice in goal after the skate.
Carolina is expected to be without Jeff Skinner. The reigning rookie of the year is close to returning, maybe as early as Sunday in Washington, but coach Kirk Muller said he won't come back for this one. It will be the 16th straight game he's missed with a concussion.
8 a.m. ET: Fresh off a four-game homestand, the Bruins now head south for a four-game road trip beginning Saturday night in Carolina.
It's the third meeting between the Bruins and Hurricanes, and Boston hopes that this one will go a little better than the first two. Carolina took advantage of the Bruins' Stanley Cup hangover, beating Boston 3-2 in Raleigh on Oct. 12 and 4-1 at the Garden on Oct. 18. The latter game featured an epic meltdown by the Bruins, who picked up 72 penalty minutes to just 22 for Carolina, which took advantage with two late 5-on-3 goals to put the game away.
Those losses were part of Boston's 3-7-0 start, but the Bruins have gotten on track since, winning 25 of 30 games since the start of November for a 28-11-1 overall record. Carolina, meanwhile, is just 15-23-7 and 11-19-4 since the start of November. One of those wins did come in their last game, a 5-2 victory at Tampa Bay on Thursday.
The Hurricanes have been without reigning rookie of the year Jeff Skinner since Dec. 7 as he's been sidelined with a concussion. Skinner was cleared for contact on Wednesday and is close to a return.
Bruins center David Krejci appears to have avoided any injury from an elbow to the head delivered by Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban late in Thursday's 2-1 win over the Canadiens. With Brad Marchand still serving his five-game suspension, the Bruins can't afford to be without Krejci, who has 5-10-15 totals in a 10-game point streak. That's the longest point streak in the NHL this season.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action.
