NHL Update: Boston Bruins outlast Carolina Hurricanes, 7-0
Zdeno Chara scored first hat-trick of his career, as Boston Bruins outlasted Carolina Hurricanes, 7-0, at TD Garden on Monday.
Patrice Bergeron added a goal and one helper for Boston, which has won four of its previous five contests and registered a sizeable shutout win for the second time in less than a week.
Mark Stuart and Michael Ryder also found the net for Bruins. Tim Thomas made 31 saves, recording his NHL-leading seventh whitewash. Gregory Campbell tallied another goal for the winners.
“This is what we’ve been preaching all year,” he said “We’ve just been getting better at it.” Bruins coach Claude Julien.
Cam Ward started the game in the net but was pulled after giving up two goals on five shots in twelve minutes. Justin Peters was called but he also could not shut the door rest of the way
and yielded five goals for Carolina, which has lost two of three games.
"They got on a roll, from the start they felt good about themselves and away they went," Paul Maurice said. "It's important for our team to answer back and show some character."
Boston got on the board to take a 1-0 lead in eighth minute of the opening period. The goal came when Stuart, from the left point, banged a slap shot that slid through traffic and settled
inside the left post.
Then Bruins had their second goal just after one minute wiped out due to a penalty on Chara for slashing. Hurricanes were unable to convert on that, and Chara did put Boston up by two-goal
edge 2-0.
The play was set up when Thomas stopped Erik Cole with a right pad on a close range shot. Chara, who just came out of the penalty box, got a pass from Adam McQuaid on a 2-on-1 break at the
Boston’s blue line and ripped a wrist shot from left wing to beat Ward by glove side.
“Those are momentum changers right there,” Thomas said of his save. “It’s momentum changers to keep momentum.”
Ward was then pulled for Peters, but Hurricanes' bad luck continued.
“They put a lot of pucks to the net and they got a few lucky bounces,” Peters said. “But they were the better team today. No excuses.”
Chara struck again for 3-0 lead on a power-play with four minutes remaining in the first period. He rifled a one-timer from the right point inside the far post.
Boston made it 4-0 game with four minutes left in the middle period. It started when Campbell, skating slowly with his back toward the net, knocked in a Shawn Thornton’s centring pass while
falling backwards over Peters in the crease.
Bruins increased the lead to 5-0 after 13 seconds. It happened so when Bergeron gathered a bad pass in front of the net and tipped a low wrist drive into the net off a turnover.
Ryder enhanced the Bruins’ advantage to 6-0 early in the final period after deflecting a Dennis Seidenberg shot into the cage.
With six minutes left in the final period, Chara completed his hat-trick and sealed the win for Bruins at 7-0 with a booming slap drive from the point on a power-play.
"He got two early and it was nice that he got the third, but nobody wanted to say anything," Thomas said. "It was like having a shutout."
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