Bruins Wrap: Boston Cuts Series Lead In Half With Much-Needed Win Vs. Hurricanes

BOSTON — After dropping both games as visitors in Game 1 and Game 2, the Boston Bruins took down the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 in TD Garden on Friday.

Boston cut Carolina’s series advantage to 2-1.

You can check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Bruins played with their backs against the wall and the crowd behind them in Friday’s Game 3 showdown at TD Garden.

The Black and Gold played like it was an elimination game all night — which is basically was, as no team wants to trail 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.

The effort was encapsulated by an all-out defensive effort in the second period to keep the lead, with multiple players diving around the net, including goalie Jeremey Swayman to hold off the Hurricanes’ offensive push.

A lot of the play occurred in-between the blue lines, with both teams stripping pucks and then turning it over immediately. That said, when the puck got to either side of the ice, the B’s had the advantage.

Boston used finesse to get pucks past Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov and a combination of effort and alignment on defense. The B’s kept Swayman clean for the majority of the night, and had multiple defenders right with him often, who always appeared to be in the right place.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Charlie Coyle shot life into a crowd with a game-tying goal in the first period that appeared to spark the team and certainly the fanbase the rest of the way.

— Brad Marchand made an unbelievable move to freeze Kochetkov then delivered a strike to take the lead.

— David Pastrnak scored on a power-play goal, which not only proved to the team that they are capable of doing so but also gave them breathing room with a two-score advantage.

WAGER WATCH
Oddsmakers set Coyle as the first scorer at +2500 on DraftKings Sportsbook. A $100 bet would have paid out $2,600 on the center’s game-tying strike in the first frame.

UP NEXT ON NESN
The Bruins will rematch the Hurricanes in Game 4 at TD Garden on Sunday with puck drop set for 12:30 p.m. ET. Pregame coverage starts at 11:30 p.m. on NESN.