Bruins' big third period too much for Canes

The Carolina Hurricanes are running out of games.

And hope. That’s fast slipping away, too.

In what might be their most crushing loss of a season gone awry, the Hurricanes were beaten 6-4 by the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at PNC Arena.

David Pastrnak had a hat trick for the Bruins, which scored five times in the third period. The Hurricanes led 4-1 early in the third, after a shorthanded goal by Brock McGinn. They had taken a 3-1 lead in the second as Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen scored on power plays and Justin Williams at even strength.

But the Bruins were not done. Matt Grzelcyk, Pastrnak and Danton Heinen all scored in a span of 77 seconds as Boston tied it.

Pastrnak’s goal at 16:30 of the third, a power-play score, was the winner for Boston (44-16-8). He later added an empty-netter for the hat trick.

Coming off a 6-3 road loss Monday against the New York Rangers, the Canes had surged ahead Tuesday on special teams. Aho and Teravainen each had a power-play goal and assist in the second period, and McGinn the shorthanded score in the third.

Williams lunged to knock in a loose puck after Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask stopped a McGinn shot for the third second-period score.

The Canes are fading fast. With the loss, Carolina remained seven points behind the New Jersey Devils, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and four points behind the Florida Panthers.

The Bruins are second in the Atlantic Division but missing the injured Patrice Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy. The Bruins also lost defensemen Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug during the game.

The Bruins’ Brad Marchand, again a feisty, physical pest most of the game, scored off a no-look Pasternak pass with 10.5 seconds left in the first. It was the 30th goal of the season for the player known as a “Little Ball of Hate” and a tough one for the Canes to absorb.

Carolina responded with the strong second period. Aho and Teravainen both scored on bullets of shots from the right circle — Aho getting his 25th of the season and Teravainen’s 21st coming with a 5-on-3 advantage after Marchand was sent to the penalty box for tripping. The two Finns each had a primary assist on the scores, with defenseman Justin Faulk also assisting on both goals.

Marchand first tripped Faulk, then put a shoulder into Aho. That was all Jordan Staal could handle, taking Marchand to the ice. Williams’ goal, his 15th, was all effort. After Elias Lindholm won the faceoff, McGinn got off a shot that got through Rask, the puck stopping inches from the goal line before Williams knocked it in with a dive.

Lindholm did most of the work on McGinn’s shorthanded goal early in the third. He swiped the puck at the Boston blue line and was off on a breakaway, denied a goal by Rask but having McGinn in full pursuit to score for a 4-1 lead.

The Hurricanes have scored power-play goals in each of their last four games, and it was the 10th time this season they’ve had two in a game. The puck movement was brisk and Aho and Teravainen were on target.

This story was originally published March 13, 2018 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Bruins' big third period too much for Canes."