BOSTON – The Boston Bruins earned themselves a seventh game with another dominating performance at home. The problem: The clincher will be at Carolina, where the Carolina Hurricanes have been just as unbeatable.
“Everybody loves a Game 7,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said after the Bruins won 5-2 to even their first-round playoff series against Carolina at three games apiece. “We´d rather be at home, I´m not going to lie to you.
“But we´d play them on Mars if we had to.”
Jeremy Swayman stopped 23 shots, and Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist for Boston in the sixth straight blowout for the home team. Charlie Coyle also had a goal and an assist for Boston, and Erik Haula and Derek Forbort added third-period goals before Curtis Lazar backhanded the puck into the empty net with 4:17 to play to make it 5-1.
“We´ve got to win, now, one road game. That´s in front of us,” Cassidy said according to AP. “We knew that when we started, we´d have to win at least one to advance. So here it is.”
The Hurricanes will host Game 7 in Raleigh, where they have gone 3-0 by a combined score of 15-4. The winner will play either the Penguins or Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals; Pittsburgh leads that series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Friday night.
“The good news is we have another game to play,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Right now, it´s tough. You should feel brutal, to be honest with you. And then you wake up, and you feel excited that you have an opportunity.”
Two days after losing 5-1 at Carolina, the Bruins returned home and put up an equally one-sided performance.
Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and Antti Raanta made 29 saves for the Hurricanes. Neither Swayman, a rookie, nor Raanta has ever appeared in a seventh game.
“I can´t wait,” said Swayman, who took over as starter after Linus Ullmark lost the first two games in Carolina. “It´s Game 7. We´re extremely excited. It´s a fun atmosphere to be a part of. Couldn´t ask for much more.”
