Hurricanes Hope To Get Back In Series As They Host Bruins

To some degree, it feels like ‘deja vu all over again’ (to quote the late Yogi Berra). The Carolina Hurricanes opened this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs by losing the first two games on the road to the Washington Capitals. The first two games had been closely contested but it was easy to conclude that the Hurricanes just didn’t have enough to hang with the defending Stanley Cup champions. The expectation was that the teams would split a pair of games in Raleigh and Washington would ultimately dismiss Carolina in six games. It didn’t quite work out that way. Carolina used a rowdy and loud home ice to take Games 3 and 4 and would go on to upset the Caps in 7 games.

That’s the same basic situation as the Boston Bruins head to North Carolina for Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston dominated Game 2 at the TD Garden, scoring six straight goals to go up 6-0 before Carolina came back to put two on the board. Game 1 had been much more competitive–Carolina led 3-2 early in the third period before the Bruins scored the next three goals to produce the final margin.

Carolina can find solace in a few things, not the least of which is the change of venue for Games 3 and 4. Boston had one of the top home ice records in the league during the regular season going 29-9-3 at the TD Garden. Only Tampa Bay (37-7-2) had fewer regulation losses on home ice. The Bruins’ play on the road was a different matter–Boston went 20-15-6 away from home giving them the fewest road victories of any Eastern Conference playoff team. They’ve been better on the road during the postseason but they’ll be heading into a venue where Carolina has not lost a playoff game this year.

Boston’s previous two series did a better job preparing them competitively than did Carolina’s. The Hurricanes had to fight against Washington but waltzed right into the Conference Finals with a four game sweep of the NY Islanders. Boston needed 7 to stop the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and even though the Columbus Blue Jackets looked to be suffering a bit of a letdown after beating Tampa in the opening round the Bruins needed six games to advance. At one point, Boston trailed 2-1 to the Jackets before winning three straight. The Bruins have lost on home ice three times in the playoffs so they’re not unbeatable at TD Garden.

Ultimately, we come back to a familiar concept in sports handicapping. Teams are ‘never as good as they look at their best and never as bad as they look at their worst’. Game 2 couldn’t have gone better for Boston and couldn’t have gone much worse for Carolina. It won’t be as easy for the Bruins on Tuesday night in Raleigh.

BET CAROLINA HURRICANES -115 OVER BOSTON BRUINS

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