No. 4 Bruins vs. No. 5 Hurricanes
8 pm ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS, FS-CR, NESN
Boston leads best-of-7 series, 2-1
Andrei Svechnikov will not play for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday.
The 20-year-old’s knee appeared to bend as he fought with the Bruins defender Zdeno Chara with 4:38 left in the third period of Game 3, which the Hurricanes lost 3-1 Saturday in Toronto, the East hub city. Svechnikov will likely be the rest of this series, coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Boston will be without David Pastrnak, who was disqualified from playing the past two games after coach Bruce Cassidy said the forward “is not available” for Game 4. Pastrnak took part in the morning skate on Monday but was an extra skater during lines.
As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not allowed to publish information about injuries or illness information.
Goalkeeper Jaroslav Halak will begin after his second straight game for the Bruins Tuukka Rask selected the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday.
Here are 3 keys for Game 4:
1. Rally without Svechnikov
Svechnikov finished third in the Hurricanes with 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists), behind center Sebastian Aho (66 points) and forward Teuvo Teravainen (63), in the regular season. He was just as productive to start this postseason with seven points (four goals, three assists) in six games.
Brind’Amour said Carolina’s lineup would be “fluent” without Svechnikov, and Aho said it would be up to the rest of the Hurricanes to make it work.
“[Svechnikov] has been a great player, “said Aho.” It must be all of us who have to step up and fill his shoes. “
Halak takes over
Continuing to Game 3, Halak did not indicate much that he would start before making 29 saves. It was Halak’s first start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since April 27, 2015, when he was with the New York Islanders. He allowed four goals in the Stanley Cup qualifier, saving him 25 in a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on August 2nd.
Halak has now had the opportunity to attach himself to the idea of Boston’s no. Become 1 goalie to advance in these playoffs. As for the rest of the Bruins, defender Torey Krug said not many changes.
“The mentality with if you have [Rask] of [Halak] in net does not change too much, “said Krug.” For the most part, it’s very similar. We have the greatest confidence in who is behind us. “
3. Stay out of the box
There were a combined 10 power games in Game 3.
The Bruins scored once in five power games Charlie Coyle opening the score 14 seconds in the second period. The Hurricanes also scored once on their five chances each Nino Niederreiter glared a clear attempt from Halak before scoring on a backhand in an open net to cut Boston’s lead to 2-1 at 6:30 of the third.
“It does not benefit us if the games go that way, if there are a lot of penalties,” Brind’Amour said.
Even with Sean Kuraly scoring, extending the Bruins’ lead to 2-0 at 1:16 of the third, any team would likely want to clear things up in Game 4.
Bruins projected lineup
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Anders Bjork
Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Ondrej Kase
Sean Kuraly – Charlie Coyle – Jack Studnicka
Joakim Nordstrom – By Lindholm – Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk – Connor Clifton
Jaroslav Halak
Dan Vladar
Skodholle: Trent Frederic, Zach Senyshyn, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Maxime Lagace, Jeremy Lauzon, Nick Ritchie, Karson Kuhlman
Unfit to play: David Pastrnak
Hurricanes projected lineup
Nino Niederreiter – Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen
Warren Foegele – Vincent Trocheck – Martin Necas
Brock McGinn – Jordan Steel – Justin Williams
Ryan Dzingel – Morgan Geekie – Jordan Martinook
Jaccob Slavin – Dougie Hamilton
Brady Skjei – Sami Vatanen
Haydn Fleury – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Petr Mrazek
James Reimer
Skodholle: Clark Bishop, Steven Lorentz, Max McCormick, Jake Bean, Roland McKeown, Anton Forsberg, Alex Nedeljkovic, Jake Gardiner
Unfit to play: Andrei Svechnikov, Brett Pesce, Joel Edmundson
Status report
Edmundson, a defender, will miss his third straight game, Brind’Amour said.
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