Hurricanes vs Bruins NHL hockey game: Who won? Final score.

Raleigh

Jordan Staal could not, would not be stopped.

The Carolina Hurricanes were on the penalty kill Sunday against the Boston Bruins. With his team two goals behind late in the third period, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery pulled goalie Linus Ullmark for a 6-on-4 advantage, looking to strike on the power play.

Instead, there was Staal with the puck, headed toward an empty Boston net. The Bruins’ David Pastrnak was in pursuit, helplessly whacking at Staal from behind as the Carolina captain scored.

So ended a 4-1 Canes victory over the Bruins in the matchup of the two best teams in the NHL.

That the Canes, playing again without injured defenseman Jaccob Slavin, snuffed out the Bruins power play was not surprising this day. Carolina was quick, active and aggressive on the kill as Boston, fourth in the league on the power play, went 0-6.

“There were a lot of penalties,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It seems like the same story when we play these guys. We always try to avoid penalties and we end up with five or six. But the penalty killing was great.”

Six power plays, eight shots, no goals – that was the story in this game as the Canes (32-9-8) handed the Bruins (38-7-5) a third straight loss. It was 12 minutes of hard work and the Hurricanes got it done.

“It’s a lot of communicating and just working hard,” defenseman Brent Burns said after his 1,300th career game. “It was fun. You could kind of feel the momentum building as the game went on, and you start getting confidence on it.”

Few Canes players are more confident than Sebastian Aho, who extended his goal streak to four games with a steal and breakaway in the first period for his 21st. Paul Stastny scored on a power play in the second and Seth Jarvis had an even-strength goal in third on a scoring play that was much like Aho’s.

Then, Staal with the capper, after a nice pass from Jordan Martinook out of the zone.

Goalie Frederik Andersen picked up his fifth straight win with 24 saves after leaving the Dallas game on Wednesday with an injury. The Bruins’ only goal, from Taylor Hall, came after the Canes had taken a 3-0 lead on the Jarvis score in the third.

The Canes were coming off a last-gasp comeback and victory over San Jose – Martin Necas tying the score late, then winning it in overtime – while the Bruins absorbed a tough road loss Saturday at Florida.

The Bruins scored in the final minute of regulation, only to have the Panthers score with seconds left with an extra attacker, then win quickly in overtime.

“They played last night, they’re lapping the field,” Brind’Amour said. “We’re trying to catch ‘em, we’re at home, big crowd. That was probably part of it.”

The standing-room-only crowd was lively. Canes fans booed the Bruins when they took the ice and again booed Brad Marchand every time he touched the puck.

“You could feel the energy before the game,” Burns said.

It was the Bruins’ first game at PNC Arena since Game 7 of their Stanley Cup playoff series last season. The Hurricanes won 3-2 to end the first-round series, and many wondered if it might be the last hurrah for such Bruins staples as Patrice Bergeron and perhaps Marchand, who had offseason hip surgery.

But the Bruins, with Montgomery in his first season as coach, had not lost two games in a row this season until a regulation loss to Tampa Bay, then the OT loss to Florida on this road trip.

“It’s getting old, to be honest with you,” Brind’Amour joked a few hours before the game, “I’m ready for them to move on, but they’re not going away.”

The Canes now have points in their past eight games (7-0-1), with two games remaining before the NHL All-Star break. They lost to the Bruins in overtime earlier in the season in Boston, but were at their best Sunday.

“You always want to beat the best teams and they’re a great team,” Aho said of the Bruins. “To beat those guys means we’re doing something right.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2023 7:51 PM.