In Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes came out hard in the fist period and tried to take the game to the Boston Bruins.
The difference in the opening period was Tuukka Rask who made 20 saves to keep the Canes off the board and give the Bruins a chance to recover. 
“[Rask] is always calm and collected,” Boston center Patrice Bergeron said. “Right now, he’s in the zone. He’s been amazing. He’s a huge reason why we’re here right now.”
Rask made a total of 35 saves as the Bruins struck twice in the middle frame and downed the Hurricanes, 2-1.
The win moves Boston to a 3-0 series lead; they can sweep the series Thursday night in Raleigh.
The loss was the first home defeat for Carolina in this post season.
“We came out exactly how we wanted to, but it didn’t work out,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I’m proud of the way we played that game.”
Chris Wagner scored off a turnover in the second period and Brad Marchand added a power play goal in the frame as well.
“I didn’t like the way we played [in the first period],” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We talked about how we want to counter an assertive team, an aggressive team. We were trying to attack and counter their aggressiveness. The moral of the story is we survived the first period tonight.”
Calvin de Haan responded for the Hurricanes in the second period but that was all the Canes could muster.
Carolina had their chances with the power play but special teams for the Canes were anemic.
“Our power play wasn’t, again, good enough — 5-on-3, 4-on-3,” captain Justin Williams said. “We didn’t get enough on it. The difference, they scored a power-play goal, special teams today, I guess.”
Rask was brilliant on the penalty kill situations.
“Such a calming presence for us,” Charlie McAvoy said. “Obviously, they came out and played real hard at the beginning, and we gave up more scoring chances than we would have liked, but [Rask] stood tall for us and allowed us to come in intermission 0-0 and reset.”
[WATCH: Bruins vs. Hurricanes Game 3 highlights | Complete series coverage]
Curtis McElhinney made 29 saves in the loss.
“[McElhinney] was great,” Brind’Amour said. “He gave us a chance tonight, and that is all you can ask. [Rask] was pretty special down at the other end. It was a good battle there.”

You must be logged in to post a comment.