On a night when the Carolina Hurricanes paid tribute to their past by wearing Hartford Whalers jerseys, the team’s future led the way. Thanks to four points apiece from forwards Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, the Canes topped the Boston Bruins 5-3 at PNC Arena Sunday.
Aho and Teravainen each scored twice for the Canes (15-15-3), and defenseman Justin Faulk also scored against the Bruins (20-13-4). Petr Mrazek stopped 27 of 30 shots in net, and the Canes scored two shorthanded goals. Following a 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday, the Canes showed resilience, bouncing back from an early 2-0 deficit.
“They prepared today,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They had their own little chat, and [team captain Justin Williams] got them ready. You could see from the start they were engaged, even when we got down. That was nice to see. The level of engagement, really for 60 minutes, it was there. Obviously you’re playing a high-end team with some high-end talent; they’re going to have their moments and they did but I felt like we just kept battling and we got the win.”
The team honored its past life as the Hartford Whalers with a pregame montage, Whalers uniforms and by playing Brass Bonanza, the Whalers’ signature song, after every goal.
“I got a text this afternoon from an old friend who used to suit up here,” Faulk said. “He asked me what the chant was going to be, go Canes or go Whalers. … It’s fun when the crowd can get into it. That’s what we want; we want to provide a type of game for them to enjoy and create the atmosphere where it’s fun for them as well.”
Following a rough start to the game that saw the Canes fail to score on a two-man advantage and the Bruins take a 2-0 lead, Carolina stormed back with four unanswered goals.
Teravainen started the rally with about seven minutes left in the first period, banking a shot in off a Bruins defender for the Canes’ first goal in almost five full periods to make it 2-1.
“It’s natural to kind of go ‘Oh no, here we go again’,” Brind’Amour said. “Because that’s what’s happening. … It didn’t look good when they got to 2-0 but we got that break. And that’s what we haven’t had in really, it feels like, all year to turn the tide a little bit.”
That tally set the table for a three-goal second period that allowed the Canes to turn a two-goal deficit into a two-goal lead.
With the Bruins on an early second-period power play, it was the Canes who took advantage and tied the game. Teravainen set up Aho in the slot with a pass from the corner, and Aho leaked a shot through Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask for his second shorthanded goal of the season.
The Finnish connection struck again a few minutes later, as Teravainen perfectly set up Aho off the rush, and the Canes’ leading scorer buried a shot to give the team a 3-2 lead.
“Obviously when you’re scoring you get more confidence,” Aho said. “That’s how it goes. Maybe it’s a little bit easier to score when you’re [getting good bounces]. I’m feeling pretty good right now, but it’s not just me. I think my linemates are helping me out a lot.”
Faulk extended Carolina’s lead with about eight minutes left in the middle frame, snapping a point shot home through a screen for his first goal since Oct. 22 to make it 4-2.
“It’s nice, obviously anytime we can get a goal as a group, build on a lead, get a two-goal lead,” Faulk said. “That’s huge. When we get up one it’s not really sure, a lot of people say two’s the first lead in hockey, but I’ll still take two over one.”
The Bruins answered back with about four minutes left in the second; forward Ryan Donato zipped his second goal of the game past Mrazek from the right circle to cut the Canes’ lead to one.
After Rask lost the puck behind the net on a Bruins power play, Aho nearly finished his hat trick, but his shot went off Rask’s skate. Fortunately for the Canes, Teravainen cleaned up the rebound to make it 5-3 with his second of the game and the Canes’ second shorthanded goal of the night.
“We just try to play good all around,” Teravainen said. “I feel like we get a lot of chances when we forecheck hard and make their D turn the puck over. That’s when we get loose pucks and just try to turn it around and shoot.”
The Bruins got a power play and pulled Rask for an extra skater with 2:40 left, giving them a six-on-four advantage, but they could not get a puck past Mrazek as Carolina held on for a crucial win.
Carolina will now take three days off for the league’s mandated holiday break and will be back in action against the Washington Capitals Thursday.
“I don’t anyone in here was comfortable with our performance or the product we’ve been providing here the last little bit,” Faulk said. “We always try and say you need something to build on and hopefully this provides that. Obviously you don’t want to sit on it at home and be grumpy with all of your family for the holidays so I hope the guys can have a smile on their face through the week, come back and have that attitude that we need to have the same results as we had tonight.”
