The result was never really in question; now the B’s wait to see whom they’ll play next. We recap their win, and preview Sharks-Blues Game 4.
The Boston Bruins are back to the Stanley Cup Final — their first since 2013, though professional sports teams in Boston have hardly suffered since then — knocking out the Carolina Hurricanes in a sweep.
Here’s a recap of last night’s action (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for tonight, in today’s edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:
Jump ahead: Last night’s game| Three starsPlay of the night| Today’s game| Social post of the day
Game 4: Boston Bruins 4, Carolina Hurricanes 0 (Bruins win the series 4-0)
Let’s be honest: the Canes were telegraphing mental exhaustion over the past few days, and a Boston series win felt inevitable after the Bruins took Game 3 in Raleigh. In Game 4, Carolina just couldn’t sustain any pressure. The Canes had only four shots in the second frame, including a 14-minute stretch without any, and then didn’t register one for more than half of the third period.
Even without captain Zdeno Chara, the Bruins put up a solid defensive effort in one of their more complete performances of the postseason. It didn’t help the Canes that Boston’s top line is sizzling hot; the trio accounted for all four of the Bruins’ goals. You can boil down Boston’s domination in this series to two factors:
Tuukka Rask (a 24-save shutout in Game 4) leveled up to an elite tier of performance, and that’s now two straight series-clinching shutouts.
