Bruins vs. Canes 4/4/23 RECAP: Marchand gets 400th goal in 4-1 WIN!

A great first period allows the Bruins plenty of room to get a win on the road!

Now that’s a playoff style win.

First Period:

Things started fast and early, with Brad Marchand charging the net on a breakout from a Morgan Geekie pass, and getting his 400th career goal in the process! 1-0 Bruins!

Then, David Pastrnak was given an absurd amount of room in order to work his magic, and he put a bullet past Frederik Andersen in tight to double the lead! 2-0 Bruins!

Not to be outdone, Pastrnak’s linemate; Danton Heinen, got a chance on a pretty passing play from Pasta to get on the board, and he took it with gusto, putting the Bruins up 3-0!

This period was a phenomenal example of what the Bruins need to do in the playoffs to just about anybody they end up facing this postseason (assuming anyone actually wants to make the postseason); they controlled play, they limited shots to the outside, and they made smart decisions with the puck. Johnny Beecher even fought Jack Drury! It had everything!

Onto the next period!

2nd Period:

The Boston Bruins had 20 minutes to use in this period, and they chose to spend an outsized amount of them either killing penalties, or failing to score on power plays.

The Canes, meanwhile, decided to make the most of their opportunities, and got themselves on the board as Jake Guentzel took advantage of Andrew Peeke dropping Stefan Noesen directly on his goaltender. 3-1 Bruins.

Mercifully, that was the only goal scored this period, but it was a grim period in general; they let off the gas and found a way to let the Canes back in. Thankfully the PK was stalwart, and managed to kill off one last penalty before heading to the dressing room!

3rd Period:

Boston managed to regain their confidence and lock down the third; a welcome change from recent events, and finished the game off with a Hampus Lindholm Empty Netter to let the Boston Bruins walk out of Raleigh with a 4-1 WIN!

Game Notes:

• Your TOI leader was Charlie McAvoy, with 23:13 played.
• The inclusion of Danton Heinen seems to be the secret sauce that makes the Zacha line work; they were far and way the most dangerous line on the ice for Boston with no member underwater possession-wise to finish the night. Zacha and Pasta already had a great chemistry, and Heinen, a man who seems to be trying to win the 7th Player Award in bulk, gels with these guys wonderfully. We’re gonna need him to keep the pace for a couple of weeks, but I think he’s more than proven a reliable hand no matter where he is.
• Brad Marchand getting his 400th goal on World Rat Day is just some kind of poetry. You can’t craft stories that good. He had a pretty alright game besides! Maybe now that he’s gotten it, the Bruins can stop trying to spring their captain for chances every other shift.
• Hampus Lindholm draws a lot of eyes, but he and McAvoy have it where it counted; they were the only pairing that was not actively drowning thanks to the Hurricanes’ crushing system play in the 2nd and 3rd periods, and for as foolish as Lindholm’s boarding was in the 2nd that handed the Canes a goal, he managed to make up for it. I liked both of their games tonight; warts and all.
• Johnny Beecher locked horns tonight in one of my specific favorite fight variations; the Tantrum Fight. This can often be confused with the Get A Spark Going Fight, but I think it comes specifically after giving up 2+ goals in under five minutes; it’s specifically the other team throwing a giant hissy fit over not playing well. After that, the rest of the game is just maintenance; the team who initiates a Tantrum Fight is only interested in proving a point, and the point they inevitably end up proving is that they were bad tonight. I’d have liked him to have won the fight to really drive the point home, but I’m satisfied with that.
• The Fourth line caught a lot of heat in the gamethread for getting manhandled by the Canes. In fairness, it’s a very limited group of players who weren’t spending a lot of time in front of Swayman last night, but you can tell they needed a Justin Brazeau. Will Pat Maroon improve this? Maybe!
• No shutout for Jeremy Swayman. I guess he’ll take the .966 SV% on 29 shots. He played great as per his usual standard, including an absolutely absurd reach-behind save that should’ve been a goal had any lesser goalie faced it.
• PLAYOFF OPPONENT UPDATE: The New York Islanders have made their way to the 2nd Wildcard spot, but are still being hounded by the Caps and Red Wings and are technically tied with Philly. Who will take this spot? Does anyone want to take it? These questions are a mystery this fine Friday and we’re not answering it tonight.

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The Boston Bruins come home for a few days to take on some Southeastern opponents; starting with the Panthers this Saturday at 3:30pm EST. That game is on ABC and ESPN+.

Don’t worry, ESPN+ has been successfully bullied into getting rid of the “LIVE SPORTS etc. etc.” promo and replaced it with elevator music. You won’t tear your hair out if you have to resort to that.

We will see you there! Have a happy Friday!