In Toronto, Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves, as the Boston Bruins stopped the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon for a 2-1 series lead.
“[Halak] is a popular guy, and they know his abilities,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You know, now it could be his turn to have a nice run. … Maybe this is [Halak’s] year. Tuukka had a great run last year. So that’s certainly something we can rally around, but by the same token, it wasn’t going to be the end of the world to have [Halak] in there.”
Nino Niederreiter was the only Hurricanes player to break through on Halak off an errant clearing pass.
“Mistakes, they happen,” Halak said. “We try to make the right play out there and I saw an opening, I tried to shoot it out, and you know, the guy caught it. It ended up in the net, but you know … we were still up. I know I gave them a little bit of life, but I think we responded the right way.
“We kept playing our game until the end. You have to give credit to our guys, just stepping up. Guys coming into the lineup and playing hard. That’s playoff hockey.”
Charlie Coyle and Sean Kuraly (shorthanded) helped the Bruins build a 2-0 lead.
“When you’re playing that, [penalty kill] and power play, you’re always in a situation no matter what happens during the game,” Coyle said. “I think more players than not are going to find their legs a little more, and it’s easier to stay in the game that way, because you’re involved in those situations. If that’s the case, that’s what they have me doing, then I have to take advantage of that opportunity.”
Brad Marchand added an empty net goal with 31 seconds left in the game.
“It’s always about the next game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s always about tomorrow, if you have one. We definitely still have time.”
[WATCH:All Bruins vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Petr Mrazek made 36 saves in the Canes loss.
“We came out in the first, I thought we had a really good first period,” Carolina’s Justin Williams said. “Then I don’t [know] about after that, if it was going to be like that the whole time or we got pushed back. I’m not sure what it was. They pushed back, and that’s what they do.
“They’re a championship hockey team over there. A lot of pedigree over there. A lot of playoff experience. We weren’t ready for the pushback. As a result, we had to chase the game.”
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