Archives for May 14, 2019
Gone to Carolina in My Mind
May 14, 2019 by Digital Sports Desk
RALEIGH — (Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – The Boston Bruins see no reason for significant changes with the way the Eastern Conference finals are going against the Carolina Hurricanes.
At the very least, the venue will be different for Game 3 as the Bruins look to put a stranglehold on the series Tuesday night at PNC Arena. Boston won each of the first two games at home.
"We know that they play well there (in Raleigh)," Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. "Refocusing, resetting and getting ready to play in a hostile environment, and we just plan to play to our standards and our culture."
The Hurricanes returned home for the second time in this postseason facing a 2-0 deficit. They overcame that in the first round against the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.
"We've done it before," Hurricanes captain Justin Williams said. "Experience, that's what we lean on right now."
Yet they didn't like the way they played in the two games at Boson. The six-game winning streak that Carolina put together vanished as the Bruins won twice by a combined 11-4 score.
One of the priorities for the Hurricanes is to put the Bruins through some adversity.
"We're certainly going to make it as tough as we can on them, and it won't be easy," Williams said. "Our identity hasn't been established in this series, so far."
The Bruins are aware that the Hurricanes haven't come this far just to fade away. So that's the part that's a bit of the unknown for Boston.
"Teams don't make it to this round if they don't have their tough group of guys," Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask said. "It's 2-0, that's good. We took care of business at home, which is what we wanted to do, now try to transfer that on the road."
Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek has a similar outlook.
"It's 2-0. We've been in this situation before," Mrazek said. "We know what we can do at home."
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour has been vague about his goalie situation for Game 3, though he has pointed out multiple times that the core of the problems in Boston weren't related to goaltending.
Mrazek was injured in the second-round series against the New York Islanders, and Curtis McElhinney played in Carolina nets in the final two-plus games as the Hurricanes produced a four-game sweep.
Now the Hurricanes must deal with Boston's onslaught of offense. The Bruins have secured contributions up and down the lineup in the postseason.
"Depth scoring is so crucial for playoffs," Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. "Most of the time when you see a matchup, the two big lines are going head to head, that kind of washes each other out typically over a series, and then you have the depth scoring that comes into play, and that's what wins you games. … We want to bottle that up and continue to use it to our advantage."
The Bruins have had 21 players post at least one point in this spring's playoffs.
"I think this year because we've scored a lot more up and down the line," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It's just a little easier to roll lines and look for your matchup but roll lines and not have to overextend skill guys."
The Bruins are expecting to see an improved Hurricanes team.
"You don't get here by accident, so we know that they are going to be better next game," McAvoy said.
Filed Under: Boston Bruins, Boston Sports, NHL
Stanley Cup Scout:
Boston Bruins at Carolina
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
RALEIGH – The Carolina Hurricanes have been perfect at home through the first two rounds of the playoffs and they will need to keep that streak intact if they hope to get back into the Easten Conference finals. After getting blown out in back-to-back losses in Boston, the Hurricanes face a must-win situation when they host the Bruins in Game 3 tonight.
Although Carolina overcame a 2-0 series deficit against reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington in the opening round, the team needs to make a statement that it can play with Boston. "Playoffs are all about putting pressure on the other team and seeing how they do with a little bit of pressure," captain Justin Williams said. "So we need to get a win … and then push back a little bit and see how they respond. Just squeeze the other team a little bit. They've squeezed us twice. We need to do a little bit of punching back."
The Bruins came from behind to win each of their first two series but they have outscored the Hurricanes 11-4 in extending their postseason winning streak to five games. "It's 2-0, that's good," goaltender Tuukka Rask said after his team scored the first six goals in Sunday's 6-2 drubbing. "We took care of business at home, which is what we wanted to do."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS
ABOUT THE BRUINS: Perhaps the best sign for Boston in the Game 2 mauling was that its vaunted No. 1 unit contributed only two assists while the third line of Charlie Coyle, Marcus Johansson and Dalton Heinen combined for seven points to boost their totals to 11 goals and 17 assists in the playoffs. "Depth scoring is so crucial for playoffs," defenseman Torey Krug said. "I said it all along that if we were going to make it and go on a run, it was going to be those bottom two lines that feed energy into this team and score big timely goals and we're going to need that going forward." Krug and his fellow blue-liners did their part Sunday by supplying three goals and three assists.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES: Petr Mrazek was hurt in Game 2 of the second round against the New York Islanders and did not return until the series opener against Boston, but he said the injury and subsequent layoff were not factors in giving up 10 goals in the first two games. "I'm feeling good, no issue with that," Mrazek said. "I don't think it was that long a break, maybe nine or 10 days. I was feeling pretty good. I'm not going to look past, just look forward to the next one." Coach Rod Brind'Amour acknowledged that he is contemplating a change in net for Game 3, which would mean a switch to Curtis McElhinney, who earned three wins by turning aside 71 of 75 shots in 7 1/2 periods against New York.
Krug became the fifth Boston defenseman to register three assists in multiple games in the postseason.
Hurricanes F Teuvo Teravainen has scored four times in four games to lift his team-high total to seven goals.
Boston is 4-for-9 on the power play versus Carolina and has had 19 different players score in the playoffs, matching a franchise record.
Filed Under: Boston Bruins, Boston Sports, NHL Tagged With: NHL sL, NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
MLB Game Scout
Colorado Rockies at Boston Red Sox
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox had the best offense in baseball while they were cruising to the best record and a World Series title in 2018, and the bats are starting to catch up to that pace again in 2019. The Red Sox will try to bash their way to a sixth consecutive victory when they host the Colorado Rockies in the opener of a two-game interleague series Tuesday.
Boston totaled 34 runs in a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners over the weekend that pushed the team three games over .500, capped by an 11-2 triumph on Sunday that saw J.D. Martinez belt a pair of home runs and rookie Michael Chavis drive in five runs. "I think the at-bats are a lot better," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters. "We're controlling the strike zone. We're staying in the middle of the field. We're not rolling over too much lately. A lot of hits to the right side and up the middle. That's important. … It's just a lot of quality at-bats from top to bottom."
The Rockies are thriving on offense as well and reached double figures in runs for the third time in four games when Charlie Blackmon's two homers led the way in a 10-7 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Blackmon will face a stiff challenge Tuesday from surging Boston ace Chris Sale while the Rockies counter with lefty Kyle Freeland.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network; AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Kyle Freeland (2-5, 5.84 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Chris Sale (1-5, 4.50)
Freeland is having some trouble keeping the ball in the yard of late and surrendered a total of six home runs in 17 innings over his last three starts. The 25-year-old was reached for five runs – three earned – on four hits and four walks against San Francisco on Thursday but escaped without a decision. Freeland is making his first career start against Boston and is 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA in nine career interleague outings.
Sale enjoyed his longest start of the season Wednesday, when he scattered three hits and one run over eight innings while striking out 14 without walking a batter against Baltimore. The Florida native got off to a terrible start in 2019 but surrendered a total of one run and six hits over 14 innings while posting 24 strikeouts and one walk in his last two turns. Sale made two scoreless relief appearances against Colorado earlier in his career and is 6-6 with a 3.07 ERA in 28 interleague games – 20 starts.
1. Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia (knee) was scratched from a rehab start Saturday with soreness and got a second day off when Double-A Portland was rained out Sunday.
2. Blackmon hit safely in each of the last 10 games and scored at least one run – 15 total – in each of those 10 contests.
3. Boston LHP David Price (elbow) threw a bullpen session Sunday and is a candidate to start Wednesday, though the weekend against Houston is more likely.
Filed Under: Boston Red Sox, Boston Sports, NBA Tagged With: Boston Red Sox, MLB