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Emily KaplanESPN
The Carolina Hurricanes are in an 0-2 hole after a 6-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Sunday, and captain Justin Williams dropped a pretty epic post game quote about how his team can climb out of it.
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 stars
Play of the night | Today’s game | Social post of the day
About last night …
Game 2: Boston Bruins 6, Carolina Hurricanes 2 (Bruins lead the series, 1-0)
After Matt Grzelcyk opened the scoring with about five minutes remaining in the first — on a goal Canes goalie Petr Mrazek probably wants back — the Bruins cruised. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask admitted it was probably the best, full game the Bruins has played in a while, maybe throughout the playoffs. Carolina’s offense was stagnant; they were credited with just nine scoring chances for the entire game. And many wondered why Rod Brind’Amour never pulled Mrazek. The coach said Mrazek wanted to stay in, but it would be surprising if there wasn’t a goalie change for Game 3.
Three Stars
1. Matt Grzelcyk, D, Boston Bruins. After absorbing a gnarly hit by Micheal Ferland early, Grzelcyk bounced back with two goals to lead the Bruins. Not bad for the local kid, who scored only three goals all regular season.
2. Marcus Johansson, LW, Boston Bruins. Johansson and linemate Charlie Coyle were buzzing all game. They probably deserve a co-shout out here, flexing the Bruins’ depth with a combined five assists.
3. Connor Clifton, D, Boston Bruins. Scoring your first career NHL goal in the playoffs? Have yourself a day, Connor Clifton. The 23-year-old rookie played in only 19 regular season games and 10 playoff games (three total assists). And he nailed the answer of what he’s doing with the puck, given the day on which he scored it:
Connor Clifton was asked where the puck for his first NHL goal is going.
“I guess to my mom, right?”
– Marisa Ingemi (@Marisa_Ingemi) May 12, 2019
Play of the night
MOJO TO CLIFTON! Marcus Johansson with a beaut of a pass to Connor Clifton for the geno! #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/PIh0rvofik
– Casey Baker (@CaseyBake16) May 12, 2019
Just a gorgeous pass from Johansson.
Dud of the night
Brad Marchand is toeing the line of peskiness, yet again.
Brad Marchand draws a penalty on Justin Williams, signals for Williams to go to the penalty box and taunts him with the “C” pic.twitter.com/1UukK3ZeQt
– Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 12, 2019
After baiting Justin Williams into taking a holding penalty — “I’m old enough, I gotta know better,” Williams said — Marchand mocked the Canes’ captain by miming a “C” on his chest and pointing to the penalty box.
Marchand has remained clear of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety this season, but he’s still getting under opponents skin this postseason like only he can.
On the schedule
Game 2: St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks (Sharks lead the series, 1-0)
The Sharks’ offense is looking mighty scary these days. In 15 playoff games, San Jose has scored five goals on at least five occasions. They spread the wealth by flexing their depth scoring in a 6-3 win in Game 1. The Blues, by contrast, have yet to hit the five-goal marker in any game. They need to amp things up — there’s been some talk about how to get star winger Vladimir Tarasenko more involved — but also rediscover their stingy defensive structure that got them to this point.
Social post of the day
Mrazek’s night, in a photo.
I’m no goalie coach but I think Petr Mrazek lost his net there pic.twitter.com/z1UoMJId1R
– Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) May 12, 2019
Quotable
Incredible post game commentary — and imagery — from the Canes’ captain.
Justin Williams on Canes’ 0-2 hole �� “You spend all this time leading up w/ everyone writing articles about how great we are. You come out and sometimes you gotta eat a poop sandwich. It doesn’t taste good. You have to chew on it for a couple days & hopefully get the taste out”
– Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) May 12, 2019