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Talking Points: Boston Bruins Big Guns Show Up in Game 3 Victory

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BOSTON – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 at TD Garden on Friday night.

GOLD STAR: Brad Marchand was pretty quiet in the first couple of games in the first round series against the Hurricanes, but that all changed in Game 2 when he exploded for a goal and three points in the Game 3 win. It was Marchand that scored midway through the second period to give the Boston Bruins their first lead of the entire season against the Hurricanes, and then he continued that with assists on each of the next two Bruins power play goals to clinch the victory. Marchand finished with a goal, three points, a plus-1 rating and six shot attempts in 19:45 of ice time while admitting afterward that it was “the most engaged” he’s been in a game in a little while. Perhaps it was the desperate situation or maybe it even had to do with the Perfection Line being reformed, but it all worked on a night when one of Boston’s best players, Brad Marchand, showed up to help them win a playoff game.

BLACK EYE: Tough night for Teuvo Teravainen, who managed just two shots on net and a minus-1 for the Hurricanes and hit a post in the third period with a whole lot of net to shoot at when the Hurricanes were still in striking distance of a comeback. The top offensive guys for the Hurricanes were largely kept off the board by a scrapping Boston Bruins defense and a penalty killing group that was eating pucks rather than letting up any seeing eye goals. Teravainen wasn’t alone as Sebastian Aho had a pretty quiet night as well, but give the credit for that to a Boston defense that played shutdown hockey against a great defensive team.

TURNING POINT: Brad Marchand’s go-ahead goal in the second period felt like it was the big moment for the Boston Bruins when they finally got their first lead of the season against the Carolina Hurricanes. But Marchand credited the turning point as being Charlie Coyle’s shorthanded goal in the first period that tied up the game and allowed the Bruins to get out of the first period with a tied hockey game after they were outshot by an 11-8 margin in the opening 20 minutes. It was a big moment for both Coyle and Jake DeBrusk as the key players on the big goal after they had struggled in the first two games of the playoff series against the Hurricanes.

HONORABLE MENTION: David Pastrnak was another big piece of the Game 3 win when the Boston Bruins game-breaker busted through for his first goal of the series, a power play snipe to the short side top corner that gave the Bruins some insurance offense. Then Pastrnak teamed with Taylor Hall for a give-and-go power play goal that extended the lead for the Black and Gold and really gave the Bruins some breathing room when the Hurricanes started coming back at them late in the third period. Pastrnak finished with the goal, two points, and a plus-1 rating in 17:38 of ice time along with five shots on net, 10 shot attempts and four hits in a noteworthy postseason effort from the big play right winger. The big development would seem to be Boston’s power play unit finally looking well against a Carolina penalty kill that’s been lights out all season, and Pastrnak had a lot to do with that.

BY THE NUMBERS: 4 – the number of goals scored by the Boston Bruins in Friday night’s Game 3, which equaled the amount of goals that the Bruins had scored against the Hurricanes in their previous five meetings this season. This actually should have been Derek Forbort’s nine blocked shots in the win, so I’m going to hang my head in shame for not making that tonight’s “By the Numbers.” Gritty, gritty playoff performance from Forbort.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “Do anything to win. It was simple.” –Rookie Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman on his mindset going into his first career playoff start before putting together a 25-save performance for the win.

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