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Bruins will face Hurricanes in semifinals, Game 1 on Friday

 04.28.09 at 9:39 pm ET
By Joe Haggerty

After the New York Rangers fell to the Washington Capitals by a 2-1 score in the early Game 7 on Tuesday night, the Carolina Hurricanes stunned the New Jersey Devils with two goals in the final two minutes of the third period to take a come-from-behind 4-3 victory in Game 7 at the Prudential Center. The sixth-seeded ‘Canes are the lowest remaining seed of the four Eastern Conference teams, so — by virtue of the NHL re-seeding after each round — the Bruins will take on the former Hartford Whalers in a seven-game series set to start this weekend in Boston.

The Bruins/Hurricanes series is set to begin with Game 1 on Friday night, and Game 2 will be Sunday. The B’s were a perfect 4-0 against the Hurricanes during the regular season, and outscored the ‘Canes by a big 18-6 margin in those four games. It should be noted, though, that the majority of Boston’s success against Carolina came in the first half of the season — a time when the Black and Gold were blowing out everybody. The ‘Canes, meanwhile, were a different team in the second half of the season and posted a solid 13-3-2 record after March 1 in a playoff push that impressed many.

That being said, Erik Staal was one of those Eastern Conference scorers that Zdeno Chara was able to intimidate and dominate during their regular season showdowns. Staal had no points and was a -6 in the four games against Boston this season while finishing with a 40 goal season and a +15 on the year for Carolina. That is impressive defensive work.

Here’s the full schedule:

Game 1 May 1st (7:30 pm) NESN, Versus
Game 2 May 3rd (7:30 pm) Versus
Game 3 May 6th (7:30 pm) NESN, Versus
Game 4 May 8th (7:30 pm) NESN Versus
Game 5 May 10th (7:30 pm)* NESN Versus
Game 6 May 12th (7 pm)* Versus
Game 7 May 14th (TBA)* NESN Versus

*if necessary

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  • Depirts

    Look out Bruin fans. Your black & yellow had a long rest they may start off somewhat rusty(remember the March layoff), next thing you know they’re behind 2 games to a really hot and pumped up, in a “Hurri(2 kick Bruin butt)canes”!

  • Punchy

    Uh.. Did you read the blog entry? We were a perfect 4-0 against the Canes this season.. I smell another sweeep.. Ohhhh YEAAAHHHH!

  • Hockey Joe

    So Pierre LeBrun (or LeBruinHater depending on your pronunciation) gives Boston the statistical edge in every conceivable category but still picks the Hurricanes in “a shocking seven”. I dont understand why this is? I know it is going to be a tough series but is he just doing it because everyone else is picking the Bruins? I dont get how these people can stare at statistics and just shrug them aside. Another thing he said that angered me is that the Bruins have a lot yet to prove. What do the Bruins have left to prove? We pretty much went wire to wire in the East and San Jose proved that we were the better team the whole year and should have won the presidents trophy. Haggs, I am starting to give up on this species

  • http://bigbadblog.weei.com Joe Haggerty

    Pierre LeBrun says that…Darren Pang says that Henrik Lundqvist is the best goalie in the NHL, and that Tim Thomas isn’t even in the Top 5. From the outside, Carolina has Cup experience, a hot goaltender and a pair of hot scorers in Ryan Whitney and Erik Staal. They look like a formidable opponent, and they’re certainly better than the team that the B’s punted in four games this year.

    But the Hurricanes don’t have Boston’s depth and Zdeno Chara is like Kryptonite for Staal. If a guy like LeBrun looked a little closer at the numbers, then he might change his tune. But he’s looking for a reaction, and it looks like he got it from you, Hockey Joe. I like the LeBruinHater. That’s pretty good.

    –Haggs

  • jim

    Hartford and Carolina fans are looking forward to Boston getting a long deserved swift kick in the groin. The silence in New England will be delightful.

  • Hockey Joe

    Notice how the smack talk comes only after a 3-1 series lead. Too bad you didnt have the backbone to predict this before the series started…or after game 1. It is really not any of our faults that Hartford sucked for so long or the people in Hartford cared so little about the Whalers that they were forced to move. What did you want the bruins to do? let them win a playoff series out of pity? Keep playing “Brass Bonanza” on your IPOD and crying about the good ol’ days of Peter Sidorciwicz and Pat Verbeek

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