There is apparently no such thing as a layoff affecting NHL hockey teams in the playoffs. All three squads that swept first round series, won in the first game of round two.
The Boston Bruins had nine days between games but they came out last night in Game 1 vs. the Hurricanes and dominated from start to finish, en route to a 4-1 win at the Garden.
After cruising past Montreal, the B's were facing a team that basically stole Game 7 from the New Jersey Devils. Common sense was that Boston would be rusty and Carolina would be playing well after their dramatic win. Eh, not so much.
Just 1:34 into the game, David Krejci deflected in an Aaron Ward shot. Michael Ryder also assisted.
Basically the only time the Hurricanes showed life Game 1 was at 18:50 of the first period when Jussi Jokinen finished off a rush with Ryan Bayda and Joni Pitkanen assisting.
In the second period, Marc Savard (from Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic) and Ryder (unassisted) gave Boston a commanding 3-1 lead. Savard whipped a shot from the slot past Carolina goalie Cam Ward (20 saves). Ryder's was a spectacular individual play as he stole the puck at the Canes' blueline, skated in and snapped a shot over Ward's glove hand.
Tim Thomas (26 saves) had a relatively quiet night in goal. It was nice to see that the break didn't seem to effect the probable Vezina trophy winner one bit.
In the third, Savard put it away after a nice drop pass from Kessel.
Game 2 is tomorrow night at the Garden. I'm not going to say it's a must win for Carolina since they'll play better at home but you don't want to go down 2-0 to the Bruins right now. They look phenomenal.
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