National Hockey League
Carolina 5, Boston 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance: 18880

Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice and third-string goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins 5-2 Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Jesper Fast also scored, Tony DeAngelo had three assists and Jaccob Slavin added two for the Hurricanes, who took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday night in Boston.

Patrice Bergeron scored twice for the Bruins and Linus Ullmark stopped 29 of 33 shots.

The Hurricanes have outscored the Bruins 10-3 through the first two games after sweeping the three-game, regular-season series by a 16-1 margin.

Kochetkov, who had three previous games of NHL experience, got the call when Antti Raanta, who was already starting for the injured Frederik Andersen, left 7:47 into the game after a collision with David Pastrnak.

Kochetkov didn't look like a playoff newcomer, even getting coincidental slashing penalties with Boston's Brad Marchand late in the second period.

The Hurricanes took the lead at 13:03 of the first after a Boston turnover in its own end. Jordan Staal worked the puck along the boards and fired a cross-ice pass to Fast for a one-timer from the left faceoff circle.

Aho made it 2-0 at 15:30 of the period, redirecting DeAngelo's shot from the point past Ullmark.

The Hurricanes increased the lead to 3-0 on a power-play goal at 1:10 of the second, with Aho blasting a one-timer from the top of the left faceoff circle.

The Bruins pulled within 3-1 as Bergeron found the puck in a scrum in front of the net on the power play and tallied on a backhander at 14:57.

The Hurricanes regained their three-goal advantage at 18:52 of the period, as Niederreiter poked a loose puck over the goal line with the man advantage.

The Bruins made it 4-2 at 12:21 of the third as Charlie McAvoy's shot from the right point went off Bergeron's skate and into the net.

Niederreiter closed the scoring with an empty-netter at 19:19.

Defenseman Hampus Lindholm, the Bruins' big trade-deadline acquisition, left the ice after taking a thunderous hit from the Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov behind the Boston net with 2:49 left in the second period and didn't return.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Carolina
Patrice Bergeron 2 Points Tony DeAngelo 3
Patrice Bergeron 2 Goals Sebastian Aho 2
Brad Marchand 1 Assists Tony DeAngelo 3
Patrice Bergeron 1 Power Play Goals Sebastian Aho 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Linus Ullmark .879 Save Percentage Antti Raanta 1.000
Linus Ullmark 29 Saves Pyotr Kochetkov 30
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Boston 38 2 1-5 7-9 28 27
Carolina 34 5 2-9 4-5 18 33
Upcoming Games
  • Carolina will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .698 after a win and .607 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Carolina. The Bruins have a W/L % of .542 after a win and .742 after a loss.