Bruce Cassidy Hopeful Return Home Will Provide ‘Lift’ For Bruins Vs. Hurricanes

The Boston Bruins return home Friday night after losing the first two games of their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Carolina Hurricanes, and head coach Bruce Cassidy is hopeful it will give his team a little boost.

Boston finds itself in a 2-0 hole after a Game 2 loss Wednesday night at PNC Arena. The Bruins, once again, had to play from behind and couldn’t quite catch the ‘Canes in what was a physical, yet lopsided matchup.

Cassidy believes getting back on home ice will be good for the Bruins, but he also knows playing on the road isn’t the sole reason for Boston’s last two losses.

“Hopefully we’ll get a lift at home,” Cassidy told reporters after Wednesday’s game, per team-provided video. “We’ve played well all year there, so that will be the challenge for us. Maybe get away from a few matchups, maybe that’ll help us. But I have a feeling the way they play, their whole group can check in and that’s how they play well, is they check, they get pucks back.

“I don’t know if that will be a defined advantage or not, but we’ve just got to get a little more urgency and I’ve got to coach a little more urgency out of our guys to create a little more offense and that will be the challenge on Friday.”

Cassidy switched up the lines a bit throughout Game 2 to try to get something going. It was too little, too late, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see some lineup changes come Game 3.

The Bruins look to get back in the series Friday night. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN beginning at 6 p.m.