Recap: Bruins fall flat to Hurricanes, 4-1

Poor execution leads to the Bruins’ loss against Carolina.

The Boston Bruins fell 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at the TD Garden, bringing their four-game winning streak to an end.

The Bruins ended their season series 1-2-0 to the Hurricanes.

Despite being engaged in a physical first period, neither side got too much of an offensive going, only putting up four shot a piece.

For the Bruins, that trend continued in the second period. While the Hurricanes were able to make it 2-0 on goals from Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Taravainen, the B’s only had two shots on net about halfway through the period.

But Charlie McAvoy cut into their deficit, connecting with Jesper Boqvist who found his stick for a one-timer.

But the Hurricanes’ checking game took over and by the third period, the Bruins were flat, missing passes and coming up short on the power play.

Jake Guentzel made it 3-1, but the Bruins were then given a chance to bounce back with a man-advantage opportunity — which ultimately expediated the loss.

Their power play in the third looked like a penalty kill, with the Hurricanes carrying the play and Seth Jarvis powering past to net a shorthanded goal for the final jab.

“They checked and that’s what we are going to see in the playoffs,” Jim Montgomery said.

Here are the highlights:

First period:

Scoreless

Shots 4-4

Second period:

The Hurricanes opened the scoring at 10:55 of the second period.

Andrei Svechnikov put a lacrosse shot past Jeremy Swayman The refs stopped the play to review if the goal crossed the goal line and determined it did. 1-0 Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes took a to-goal lead at 13:05 of the second period.

Teuvo Teravainen slides one through Swayman’s five-hole. 2-0 Hurricanes.

The Bruins cut into their deficit at 16:56 of the second period.

Jakub Lauko found Charlie McAvoy inside the left-wing circle where he blasted a one-timer between Pyotr Kochetkov’s blocker and post. 2-1 game.

Third period:

The Hurricanes regained their two-goal lead at 10:14 of the third period.

Dmitry Orlov sent a shot at Swayman. Jake Guentzel, hanging in the slot, scooped in to pick up the loose puck to try an in-close attempt on net. Guentzel then put his own rebound in on Swayman. 3-1 Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes scored shorthanded at 13:22 of the third period.

Seth Jarvis carried the puck up the left-wing boards, fired a shot on net and followed it through to wrap the puck around the net and put a low backhander past Swayman, Final score: 4-1 Hurricanes.

Game notes:

• The Bruins were outplayed in all areas of the game. They had to play a more defensive game tonight. Because of the Hurricanes checking, the center ice was taken away from them and limited clean entries into the offensive zone.
• But as Swayman put it, the team won’t have it easy closing out this season. The Hurricanes are fighting for positioning and the Bruins’ next two opponents are battling it out for a wild card spot.
• “It’s good for us moving forward,” Swayman said postgame about the loss. “There are only four games left in the season. It’s our job to get punched in the face and get back up.”
• The Bruins power play went 0 for 3. Montgomery said it started with special teams not winning faceoffs. It’s also hard when you’re up against the best PK…
• McAvoy spoke postgame about this feeling like playoffs, seeing Carolina twice in the last five days. He wasn’t worried about tonight’s outcome. “It’s just one game tonight,” McAvoy said. “Tonight we didn’t play how we can play. We just didn’t do enough of it, but we’ve been working toward our game.”
• Montgomery said the team had no transitional offense tonight. When asked how to correct that, he responded the Bruins need to do what they’ve done in the previous games and noted they’ll be OK.
• The Bruins will head out on the road for two games. First, they’ll face the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 13.