Boston Bruins: Three keys to defeating the Carolina Hurricanes

The Boston Bruins are four wins away from booking a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, but in order to do that, they have to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t had the easiest time getting to the Eastern Conference Finals, as they have had to go through both the New York Islanders and the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals in order to make it this far. It’s going to take everything the Boston Bruins have in them in order to halt their momentum.

Here are three keys they need to focus on in order to make it happen.

1) Create scoring opportunities

The Carolina Hurricanes limited the New York Islanders to five goals in their four-game sweep, partly in due to their strong defense and solid play from their goaltending duo of Curtis McElhinney and Petr Mrazek.

With Mrazek injured, McElhinney has picked up the slack, and has been spectacular in net, leading the Hurricanes to the Eastern Cup finals. That being said, the Boston Bruins are going to need more production from their power-play and top units if they are going to open up the scoring and bury the Hurricanes.

The Bruins also kept the Blue Jackets in check, effectively taking more chances at the net and not giving the Blue Jackets any good looks on Tuukka Rask.

In the Hurricanes last four appearances, they haven’t been eliminated any sooner than the Conference finals – it’s up to the Bruins to make it happen to defeat them.

2) Remain steady with their defense

If the Boston Bruins are going to eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes, they need to remain disciplined in their play. They need to maintain good habits that they picked up against the Blue Jackets and carry it into this series.

The Bruins defense kept the Blue Jackets at bay, with the help of Rask, to eliminate any extra chances that the Blue Jackets could find. The Blue Jackets came off a heavy scoring series with the Tampa Bay Lightning before they met with the Bruins.

The Hurricanes are also coming off a high scoring series with both the Islanders and the Capitals. The difference with the Hurricanes is that they shut down the Islanders and didn’t give them any scoring opportunities.

Also, the Bruins are going to have to make due without Charlie McAvoy, who has been suspended for game one. With that in mind, if the Bruins expect to defeat the Hurricanes, they must remain disciplined with their defense and not allow the Hurricanes any extra inches than they should be getting in order to win.

3) Short and sweet

The Boston Bruins went the distance with both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Columbus Blue Jackets, finishing both teams off in 13 games. Even though they may be able to go the distance with the Carolina Hurricanes, they’re better off keeping it short and sweet.

The Bruins can benefit from some rest en route to the Stanley Cup finals, and the Hurricanes captain is Justin Williams, or more aptly nicknamed ‘Mr. Game 7’ for his performances in the deciding game over the years. His assist in the Hurricane’s double overtime win against the Washington Capitals was his 15th point in his career in Game 7 deciding games.

He currently has seven goals and eight assists on the way to winning three Stanley Cups. If the Bruins want to succeed against the Hurricanes, they better finish them off quickly, or else they could suffer the same fate that last year’s defending Stanley Cup champions did.

The Boston Bruins kick off the series tonight at TD Garden, looking to start the series on-time!