Five days after the New York Rangers floated in their Stanley Cup Qualifier series, the Hurricanes finally have an opponent for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it’s a familiar one.
After Montreal eliminated Pittsburgh on Friday, we knew the Canes would be the top seed from the qualifying game and against the fourth seed from the round robin. We now know who that is, because, with a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals Sunday, the Boston Bruins will beat the Canes in round one.
The Canes and Bruins are well-known playoff opponents, with this series serving as a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final. This is the fourth time since the franchise moved to North Carolina that the Canes will square off in the mail season with Boston. The Bruins defeated the Canes in six games in the first round of the 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canes’ first appearance after the move.
In the second round of 2009, the Canes took out the top-seeded Bruins on a practice game-seven goal from Scott Walker, and, of course, last year Boston ended Carolina Carolina’s storybook season with a whip in the Eastern Conference Final.
Despite winless in round robin play, the Bruins are not to be taken lightly. This is a deadly team in all facets of the game, as the Bruins finished with the highest points percentage in the league in the short regular season.
For Carolina, the team will look to build on its first round of New York, as it is likely added top defender Dougie Hamilton will return for the lineup for the first time since January against the team that drafted him.
The two teams play only once this year, a 2-0 win by the Bruins in Beantown on Dec. 3, as two future meetings were interrupted by the NHL break amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
While the Canes play Boston for the second Stanley Cup Playoff series in a row, the team will look to win its fifth first-round series in five tries, as Carolina has at least reached the Eastern Conference Final in each of their last four playoff appearances (2002, 2006, 2009 and 2019).
Canes Country will have treated you like game one with in-depth matchup and position positions, but here are some facts and figures about this matchup to give you over in the meantime.
Be sure to also check out Alec’s story from Friday on the Canes, at the moment, two potential opponents.
Just season record
Boston (44-12-12, 100 points, first in Atlantic, first in Eastern Conference, first in league)
Carolina (38-25-5, 81 points, fourth in Metropolitan, sixth in Eastern Conference)
Top Performers of Normal Season (Goal Assists Points)
Boston
David Pastrnak 48-47-95
Brad Marchand 28-59-87
Patrice Bergeron 31-25-56
Torey Krug 9-40-49
David Krejci 13-30-43
Carolina
Sebastian Aho 38-28-66
Teuvo Teravainen 15-48-63
Andrei Svechnikov 24-37-61
Dougie Hamilton 14-26-40
Martin Necas 16-20-36
Goals
Boston
Tuukaa Rask (Vezina Trophy finalist) 26-8-6, .929 Save percentage, 2.12 goals-against average
Jaroslav Halak 18-6-6, .919 Percentage save, 2.39 goals-against average
Carolina
Petr Mrazek 21-16-2, .905 Percentage save, 2.69 goals-against average
James Reimer 14-6-2, .914 Save percentage, 2.66 goals-against average
Statistics and rankings
Offensive
Boston 3.24 goals per game (ninth NHL)
Karolina 3.19 goals per game (11th NHL)
Defense
Boston 2.39 Goals per game (First NHL)
Karolina 2.84 goals against game (11th NHL)
Special teams
Boston 25.2% Power Play (Second NHL), 84.2% Penalty Kill (Third NHL)
Karolina 22.3% Power Play (eighth NHL), 84.0% penalty (fourth NHL)
