Boston Bruins: Special teams come up big in Game 3

The fact that Carolina didn’t score a goal during the first period of tonight’s Game 3 match-up wasn’t just a stroke of luck – it showed the success and strength of the Boston Bruins’ special teams.

During this year’s playoffs, the Boston Bruins lead the league in power play success rate (33.3%) and all currently active playoff teams on the penalty kill (84.1%).

Tonight’s match-up in PNC Arena showed the hockey world why Boston’s special teams are so electric; first period warts and all. The Boston Bruins finished the evening with a 20% power play success rate and a perfect record on the penalty kill. Given the numerous shifts played down a man, throughout the game, this was a ginormous win for the Bruins.

Coming off of a brutal 6-2 loss at the hands of an offensively hot Boston Bruins, the Carolina Hurricanes knew that they had to dominate Game 3 from the first puck drop. To the delight of their fans, they did.

Goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped a mind-blowing 20 shots on goal in the first period and kept the score from becoming lopsided. While he was the primary factor that kept the Bruins in the game, he wasn’t the only one.

The special teams, in particular the penalty kill, were crucial in deciding the first period (and the rest of the game, at that) for the Bruins.

Boston had a player in the penalty box for 12 minutes of the first period, and with Carolina’s intensity coming out of the tunnel, that could have been disastrous. And for a tense couple of minutes, it was. But none of Carolina’s attempts came to fruition, and the Boston Bruins slowly woke up through the period to fight back.

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If it weren’t for the Bruins’ strength on the penalty kill in the first period, the end result would have been drastically different. The Carolina Hurricanes might have scored first and run away with the game.

Boston’s efforts to stay alive in the first period served as the flame that spurred them to roar back in the second period, with Chris Wagner and Brad Marchand finally beating Curtis McElhinney with much-needed goals.

Marchand’s ticker, the game-winner, came off of the power play. The power play was not as successful as their penalty kill but it sure was better than 0%, which was Carolina’s success rate.

It seemed that hardly any of the game was played at even strength, with 28 minutes spent in the box by both teams, what with the frequent trips to the penalty box that both teams took early in the game.

The Bruins got an edge on this for two reasons: their composure and strength on both their penalty kill and power play.

Carolina’s disciplinary problems, most of all the puzzling conduct by its captain Justin Williams, who was responsible for three penalties in the first period, seemed to zap the dynamic on the ice by the second period.

By contrast, the Bruins ramped up the togetherness and intensity that has exemplified their play throughout this series.

They stayed cool under extreme duress, especially during a tense Carolina 5-on-3, which happened midway through the first period. Boston’s patience through those tough sequences paid off big time with their second period goals.

The Boston Bruins’ well-run special teams machine neutralized whatever offensive magic that the Hurricanes wielded in the opening frame and earned them their third win in this series.

Statistics courtesy of NHL.com.