Hurricanes Game 6 loss to Bruins sets stage for ‘Saturday night in Raleighwood’
Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes has a promotional side to him, it seems.
Looking ahead to Game 7 of the Canes’ playoff series with the Boston Bruins, Svechnkov referred to it Friday as “Saturday Night in Raleighwood.”
Granted, the game has a 4:30 p.m. start Saturday at PNC Arena. But it will end some time early Saturday night and Svechnikov is hoping to have a lot to celebrate at game’s end.
“I’m very excited, and we’re not going to look back on what happened but focus on the game tomorrow,” Svechnikov said Friday after the Canes practiced. “It’s very exciting and it’s going to be Saturday Night in Raleighwood and we’re going to be buzzing, for sure.”
Thursday night in Beantown did not go well for the Hurricanes. The Bruins punched out a 5-2 win at TD Garden in Boston to square the best-of-seven series and force a Game 7.
“Everyone is bitter, mad and frustrated,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday. “That was not the game we expected to play. But come tomorrow that’s old news and it’s what’s in front of you that matters. You have to play your best. You don’t win Game 7 unless you play your best.”
Svechnikov scored both Canes goals Thursday, beating goalie Jeremy Swayman with a short-side laser after a Seth Jarvis setup pass, and later adding a power-play goal after the Bruins had taken a 5-1 lead. The Russian forward will go into his first Game 7 on an uptick.
“Obviously, for anybody, when you score you feel more confident, same as me right now,” Svechnikov said. “I’m going to try and keep that confidence tomorrow in the game.”
Tougher to play or coach in Game 7s?
Brind’Amour was asked Saturday which was a bigger challenge, playing or coaching in a Game 7. The Canes won the 2006 Stanley Cup in a Game 7 showdown with the Edmonton Oilers — Brind’Amour the team captain — and won a Game 7 double-overtime thriller against the Washington Capitals in 2018-19, Brind’Amour’s first as head coach.
“Oh man, good question,” he said. “I think coaching because you’re not in it, as much as you want to be. You put the plan together, but the guys out there have to execute it and obviously that’s a lot more fun.”
Sleepless in Raleigh
Antti Raanta didn’t sleep well Thursday night after the team flight back from Boston.
It’s that way for a lot of players, and especially goalies. They keep replaying the game in their minds, for a goalie a blur of shots and constant movement.
“And especially yesterday,” Raanta said. “You had the chance to take the (series) win there and we couldn’t bring our best game. I think that was why everybody was feeling bad after the game.”
Raanta was cleanly beaten by the Bruins’ Brad Marchand on the game’s first goal early in the second period. Marchand loaded up a shot to Raanta’s left and went high to the glove side, and the Bruins never trailed.
“If you think about yesterday’s game, the first goal was a big one,” said Raanta, who had 29 saves. “You really don’t want to give up a short-side goal in a game like that.”
Raanta, who will be starting his first career Game 7, said he would spend the rest of Friday relaxing, watching movies or TV shows, saying, “Just get your head out of hockey for a little bit.”
Of note
▪ Defenseman Brady Skjei was not at practice Saturday but should play Sunday. … One line change in the practice had Max Domi returning to Vincent Trocheck’s line with winger Teuvo Teravainen, and Martin Necas moving back to the fourth line centered by Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
▪ Raanta has the start of a nice playoff beard. Among the Finns, he’s the clear clubhouse leader, although joking that Teravainen is “getting a little mustache going.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 4:49 PM.
