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Tag: Petr Mrazek

  • ECF Game 2 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    ECF Game 2 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Game 2 – BOS Leads 1-0

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming into Game 2 this afternoon the Carolina Hurricanes look to tie the series at one and take away the home ice advantage from the Boston Bruins. The first half of the period saw the tempo change hands between the two teams, and we alao saw a Hurricanes powerplay that did not generate much offense. Then in the last five minutes of the period Matt Grzelcyk would get one through Petr Mrazek and just over the goal line to score the first goal of the game. The Bruins would not be done there as they would get a late powerplay opportunity and would need only six seconds as Jake DeBrusk would knock in her own rebound and give the Bruins a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

     

    Going into the second period the Bruins would get themselves into penalty trouble as Patrice Bergeron would take a tripping penalty, but the Hurricanes would squander their opportunity and moments later the Bruins would capitalize as Marcus Johansson would exhibit great patience as he feeds Connor Clifton with the pass for Clifton to bury the puck into a wide open net for his first career playoff goal. Then late in the second period Matt Grzelcyk would strike again, this time on the powerplay to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.

     

    Going into the third period the Hurricanes would stick with Petr Mrazek between the pipes, but the Bruins would continue their assault as David Backes would score 70 seconds into the period. Then after killing off their second Patrice Bergeron tripping penalty of the game, it would be Bergeron out of the box and setting up Danton Heinen to make it a commanding 6-0 lead. The Hurricanes would eventually end Tuukka Rask’s shutout bid when Justin Williams would deflect a Justin Faulk poimt shot to make it 6-1. Then the Hurricanes would build on that as they would catch Tuukka Rask cheating to play the puck as he would accidently shoot the puck into Teuvo Teravainen who would shoot it into the wide open net to make it 6-2, but it would be to little too late as the Bruins take Game 2 and the 2-0 series lead.

     

    Lineups:

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen

    Nino Niederreiter — Jordan Staal — Justin Williams

    Warren Foegele – Lucas Wallmark — Brock McGinn

    Jordan Martinook — Greg McKegg — Micheal Ferland

    Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton

    Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk

    Haydn Fleury — Calvin de Haan

    Petr Mrazek

    Curtis McElhinney

    Scratched: Jake Bean, Patrick Brown

    Injured: Saku Maenalanen (upper body), Trevor van Riemsdyk (left shoulder)

     

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman, John Moore

    Injured: Kevan Miller (lower body), Noel Acciari (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 11:56 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 15:22 – Matt Grzelcyk (2) from Marcus Johansson (5) and Charlie Coyle (4)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 18:26 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins PPG – 18:32 – Jake DeBrusk (3) from David Pastrnak (6) and Torey Krug (8)

     

    End of 1st – CAR – 0       BOS – 2

    Shots              06                11

    Faceoffs         08                13

    Hits               14                  20

    PP                 0/1                 1/1

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 1:09 – Patric Bergeron 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 3:46 – Connor Clifton (1) from Marcus Johansson (6) and Danton Heinen (5)

    Bruins Penalty – 13:36 – Chris Wagner 2 minutes for Holding

    Hurricanes Penalty – 16:07 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for Holding

    Bruins PPG – 17:56 – Matt Grzelcyk (3) from Charlie Coyle (5) and Torey Krug (9)

     

    End of 2nd – CAR – 0        BOS – 4

    Shots               17                 21

    Faceoffs          18                 21

    Hits                 26                  27

    PP                   0/3                  2/2

     

    Third Period:

    Bruins Goal – 1:10 – David Backes (2) from David Krejci (8) and Torey Krug (10)

    Bruins Penalty – 2:22 – Patrice Bergeron 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 4:32 – Danton Heinen (2) from Patrice Bergeron (4) and Charlie Coyle (6)

    Hurricanes Goal – 11:17 – Justin Williams (4) from Justin Faulk (6) and Sebastian Aho (6)

    Hurricanes Goal – 17:32 – Teuvo Teravainen (7) from unassisted

     

    End of 3rd – CAR – 2         BOS – 6

    Shots              23                   25

    Faceoffs        22                    31

    Hits               27                     35

    PP                 0/4                    2/2

     

    Next Up:

    Game 3  – Boston Leads 2-0

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • Eastern Conference Finals Preview – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Eastern Conference Finals Preview – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Eastern Conference Finals

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

     

    Regular Season Series:

    CAR 1-0-1 (Playoffs 8-3)

    BOS 2-1-0 (Playoffs 8-5)

     

    How they got here:

    Carolina defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 in the first round, and then swept the New York Islanders 4-0 in the second round.

     

    Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in the first round, and then defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 in the second round.

     

    A Deeper Look at the Series:

    Offense:

    For the Carolina Hurricanes this postseason they had a lot of players playing in the playoffs for the first time in their careers, and outside of the veteran leadership of Jordan Staal and Justin Williams they have also received contributions from their young stars of Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho. The biggest surprise this season has been the rise of rookie forward Warren Foegele who has recorded 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in the postseason so far.

     

    For the veteran Boston Bruins they have received contributions from all of their top players including Brad Marchand who leads the way with 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points this postseason. However, despite their contributions this postseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets last round showed how you can keep the top players of the Bruins quite for an extended amout of time throughout the series. Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets they faltered near the end and the likes of Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak would take over and lead the Bruins back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

     

    Defense:

    On defense for the Hurricanes they have been lead quietly by Jaccob Slavin who leads the team in points with 11 this postseason, but all 11 points have been assists for Slavin and it has shown as he has been a jolt for kick startig the Hurricanes offense. The Hurricanes have also gained contributions from Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk and Brett Pesce who combined have 19 points (4 goals and 15 assists) this postseason. With these four players firing on all cylinders, it makes the Hurricanes defense a dangerous one to contain in regards to moving the play up the ice and into the offensive zone.

     

    The Bruins major contributions offensively have come from Torey Krug (1 goal and 8 points) and Charlie McAvoy (1 goal and 6 points) from the blueline, but their overall core which is lead by captain Zdeno Chara has been solid throughout the majority of these playoffs. However, going into Game 1 the Bruins will be without McAvoy who will be serving a ome game suspension for his hit to the head of Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson in Game 7 last round, so the Bruins are going to need to step up in his absence for Game 1.

     

    Goaltending:

    For the Hurricanes they have relied on both of their horses from the regular season in Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney. Mrazek, who is the team’s number one goaltender has a 5-3 record with a 2.22 GAA and a .913 save percentage, while McElhinney has a 3-0 record with a 1.56 GAA and a .947 save percentage since coming in when Mrazek went down with a lower body injury. The Hurricanes hope to have Mrazek between the pipes for Game 1, but McElhinney is ready to answer the call when needed.

     

    For the Bruins they have their stalwart Tuukka Rask who in these playoffs have an 8-5 record with a 2.02 GAA and a .938 save percentage as he has been the backbone for the Bruins this postseason.

     

    Goaltending will be one of the biggest keys this series, and could also be the determining factor.

     

    Special Teams:

    CAR – PP 17.8%     PK 81.6%

    BOS – PP 25.9%     PK 79.9%

     

    For special teams this could be considered a wash as both teams are on the opposite end of the spectrum in regards to powerplay and penalty kill. During the regular season the Bruins had a better powerplay, but on the penalty kill the Hurricanes were the better team. One edge I would give to the Hurricanes would be their penalty kill as seeing it in person, against the Bruins for Hartford Whalers Night, they utilize their young, fast players along with their grizzled defenders to kill penalties, and with players like Teravainen and Aho on the kill that can score shorthanded, that can give the Hurricanes a slight edge.

     

    Prediction: CAR in 6

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • 2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Game 1: Hurricanes Steal Game 1 In OT

    2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Game 1: Hurricanes Steal Game 1 In OT

    The second round of the playoffs began yesterday; however, for these two Metropolitan division rivals, their first game was tonight. It was the first game for the Islanders since April 16th, when they swept the Pittsburgh Penguins. For the Hurricanes, the last game that they played was Wednesday in DC, when they defeated the Washington Capitals in double overtime. The last time that these two teams played against each other though, was all the way back on January 8th. Which saw the Hurricanes come out victorious in that game.

    Game 1 took place at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, and it saw a tightly contested match with great defensive play on both sides and great goaltending from both teams. In the first period, saw great back and forth action from both teams, but unfortunately, no one was able to find the back of the net. The Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 11-9 though.

    In the second period, we saw much of the same as the first period, great back and forth action from both teams. Again, unfortunately there was no scoring between both teams. However the shot count in the second period was even, with both teams registering 12 shots on goal.

    In the third period, we got more of the same as the first two periods. There was no scoring, as I’m sure all of the fans stress levels went up a few notches as the game would head to overtime. It was the Hurricanes who outshot the Islanders in the third period 10-6.

    Also, through three periods of play, both teams penalty kills went perfect. The Hurricanes penalty kill was 5 for 5, and the Islanders penalty kill went 3 for 3.

    In overtime, there were no penalties called on either team. There also wasn’t much shooting going on in the third period either, as the Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 2-1. Everything from both teams was on lockdown. Then four minutes into overtime, a shot came from Nino Niederreiter, which bounced off the back boards and landed on Jordan Staal’s stick. He took a shot which beat Robin Lehner to give the Hurricanes the 1-0 victory in OT and a 1-0 lead in the series.

    This was some absolutely incredible hockey and I hope that there is more to come with this series.

     

    3 Stars of the Game

    Third Star: Petr Mrázek

    Second Star: Robin Lehner

    First Star: Jordan Staal

     

    Boxscore

    https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-nyi/2019/04/26/2018030221#game=2018030221,game_state=final

     

    Game 2 action will be this Sunday at 3p on NBC.

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.