Boston Bruins Ignite In Third Period, Down Hurricanes 4-3

The Boston Bruins offense struggled to solve James Reimer on Monday night for forty minutes. Then came the third period.

Jake DeBrusk scored his second goal of the third period less than three minutes after Brad Marchand gave the Bruins their first lead of the hockey game. He took a feed from Ondrej Kase down by the Hurricanes’ net, evaded a defenseman and then put it between the arm and body of Reimer. It would stand as the game winning goal.

DeBrusk extends the Bruins lead, making it 4-2. That’s 4 goals in less than 6 minutes for Boston.#NHLBruins #LetsGoCanes pic.twitter.com/s6R94W7Cn4

— BOSHockeyNow (@BOSHockeyNow) August 18, 2020

The Boston Bruins got four goals in a span of 6:51 and nine shots to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead. The Bruins also fired the first 16 shots of the period on Reimer. Jaroslav Halak made 15 saves in the win. Reimer stopped 29 shots in the loss.

Veteran winger Justin Williams made his first mark on the series just 9:17 into Game 4. Williams took a feed from Vincent Trocheck at the top of the faceoff circle to Halak’s right. From there, Williams fired a long-range wrist shot that found its way through traffic and by Halak. Williams’ first goal of the playoffs came on the Hurricanes’ first shot of the hockey game.

First shot on net, first goal of the game. Williams puts the Canes up 1-0 with just over halfway to go in the first period.#NHLBruins #LetsGoCanes pic.twitter.com/1uq4h9vWYA

— BOSHockeyNow (@BOSHockeyNow) August 18, 2020

The Hurricanes added to their lead 12:08 into the second period. Jordan Martinook took a feed from Sebastian Aho, which sprung him into the offensive zone. With a step on Matt Grzelcyk, Martinook walked in and labelled a wrist shot from the circle that beat Halak to make it 2-0.

The Bruins would finally breakthrough in the third period. The much maligned DeBrusk scored his second goal of the playoffs at 7:26 of the final frame, getting the Bruins within one. Reimer came out to play the puck in-between the circles. DeBrusk beat a Hurricanes defender to the puck, collected it and fired a shot past Reimer, who forced DeBrusk to jump over his stick.

Jake Debrusk gets the Bruins on the board!#NHLBruins #LetsGoCanes pic.twitter.com/FFRoJFs9v7

— BOSHockeyNow (@BOSHockeyNow) August 18, 2020

It was just the beginning of a Boston Bruins onslaught. Charlie McAvoy laid a big hit on Jordan Staal, then Connor Clifton struck. Clifton, who was inserted into the lineup in Game 3, scored his first goal of the playoffs just 2:44 after DeBrusk scored his first. Clifton took a feed from Joakim Nordstrom and stepped into a one-timer that was blasted over the shoulder of Reimer.

90 seconds after Clifton’s goal, Marchand gave the Bruins their first lead of the hockey game. He took a bank-pass from Torey Krug at the offensive blueline and walked into the zone all alone on Reimer. Marchand went backhand-to-forehand and got Reimer down, then unleashed a shot over his outstretched pad at 11:40 of the third period to give the Bruins their first lead of the hockey game. DeBrusk’s goal at 14:17 capped off the stretch.

The Hurricanes did make it interesting late. On their first, and only, shot of the period, Teuvo Teravainen got the Hurricanes within one. Teravainen spun and fired a backhand shot towards net that fooled Halak at 18:33. It didn’t matter in the end.

The Bruins can close the series out on Wednesday afternoon in Game 5. Puck drop is set for 4:00 pm.