Bruins score twice late to beat Hurricanes

The only way the Carolina Hurricanes could get the puck past Jaroslav Halak was through the side of the net.

It didn’t count.

Charlie Coyle’s goal did, as the Bruins won their eighth straight game with a 2-0 victory over the Hurricanes in the third contest of their five-game homestand.

It remained scoreless until 4:05 left in the third period, when Coyle put it past James Reimer to win it and send the Bruins to their 12th consecutive game with a point.

The Hurricanes played the Bruins tough the first 55 minutes, and at one point looked to go ahead only to have a goal called back in the second period, but once the Bruins broke through late in the game, they took control with another tally for insurance to continue their winning streak, finishing the night with a league-high 45 standings points.

They also avoided being shut out for the first time this season.

This time — unlike the last three games — the Bruins didn’t need to come from behind; instead, a mundane 0-0 contest felt like it was destined for overtime until Coyle put in his sixth goal of the season.

The first period wasn’t necessarily low energy, like some of the more recent contests have been, but an overall sleep first period carried into the first part of the second. The B’s had two power play chances in the first, and they had chances, but didn’t connect.

Andrei Svechnikov had the best opportunity early in the second, but his backhand bid soared high over Halak.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy shuffled the lines in the second period with the offense deemed ineffective; Jake DeBrusk moved up to play alongside David Krejci, and Brad Marchand was matched with Coyle’s line.

With 2:08 left in the second, the Hurricanes appeared to go ahead 1-0. Jaccob Slavin broke up a two-on-one from DeBrusk and David Pastrnak on the defensive end of the ice, then it looked like his backhand leaked through Halak. A quick replay showed the shot went through the side netting, and was overturned.

It remained scoreless heading into the third period.

Carolina had extended zone time late in the third, but Danton Heinen fought to get the puck to the neutral zone. He flipped the puck towards the offensive blue line, and banked it off the boards to Marchand, who put it in front of the net , where Coyle was parked, and he tapped it in to put the Bruins up for the first time in the game.

As they’ve done of late, the Bruins continued to score in the third with an insurance goal.

Charlie McAvoy wound up with 2:57 left in the game and David Krejci redirected in his sixth tally of the year for the 2-0 lead, and put the game away for good.

It was also Krejci’s 200th career goal.

Halak made 23 saves, in his 500th career game, earning his seventh shutout since joining the Bruins.

The Bruins continue their lengthy homestand with their fourth contest on Thursday night against the Blackhawks.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/382TGQC