Hurricanes testing well
May 10, 2009
The Carolina Hurricanes head into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semis in the drivers seat, leaving the Boston Bruins searching for answers. We have only heard that the Canes have yet to see the Bruins best game in this series – well, a newsflash for all parties, we have yet to see the Canes' best game yet too, and Carolina is up 3-1.
The impressive thing about the effort so far from Carolina is that it is the collective of the team that is better. Yes, Eric Staal has taken over this series and gotten the better of Zdeno Chara and the B's defense, but when was the last time five-on-five the Canes forwards were outworked? Carolina has beaten the Bruins to loose pucks, scrums in front of the net, errant passes in the neutral zone and, most importantly, on the scoreboard. One can write a book about the exploits of Jussi Jokinen in this series alone with 2 game winners and being in the right spot all the time, but it is not just one or two players carrying Carolina.
Paul Maurice and his staff have mixed and matched to find the right combinations to off set the Bruins, while Boston with the best record remaining in the post season looks to find any answer to solve the Canes. But the answer is simple: The Canes are just flat out better, but better as a collective. The parts of Boston might be impressive with Chara, Thomas, Kessel, Savard, Krecji, Ryder...but the whole is not. The Canes coaching staff understands this, and after making the adjustments from game one, the Canes have had the jump on the Bruins.
Players have answered the bell for the Canes, from Ryan Bayda, to Tim Conboy filling in for Bayda who missed Game 4 with the flu. Don't worry about scoring slumps; someone is going to snap out of one, be it Sergei Samsonov or Erik Cole. Rising up to the physical challenge, Tuomo Ruutu and Scott Walker have dished out over 25 hits the last two games. And leadership? The Hurricanes have aced every test from the supposed superior Bruins, and now have just one more left to take.
Game 5 should finally be the game we see the Bruins play to their capacity. There is no more tomorrow for the Bruins, and one would suspect with a home crowd aching for a title that has eluded them for 36 years, this team had better. However, one can't help but think with Bruins Coach Claude Julien complaining about the refs and the resolve of his team, they won't be able to cram for Sunday's test.
Notes from the road:
Riding on the plane to Boston for Sunday's game two Bruin fans noted how loud the RBC Center was in comparison to the Bruins den...guess the fans thought it was a home advantage.
