Tukka Rask
There were four penalties in the first period, two minors against each team, but no scoring in the period despite the four power play opportunities as Boston outshot the Hurricanes 18-14.
The fourth penalty of the period against Boston's Matt Hunwick came late in the first with just 18 seconds remaining, which put Carolina on the power play for the first minute and forty-two seconds.
Matt Hunwick
After winning the faceoff and gaining the Bruins zone, the Hurricanes applied some early pressure on Boston until team captain Zedeno Chara intercepted the puck behind his own goal and fired it down the ice. The puck hit Carolina defender Jamie McBain, which slowed the puck enough to prevent Ward from being able to control it as the puck slid down by the right faceoff circle in the Hurricanes zone. The Bruins Daniel Paille out raced Bryan Rodney to the puck, scooped it up and went below the goal line, only to surprise the defense by cutting to his left and back in front of the net. He then skated past the crease, rotated back toward the goal and fired a shot past Ward for a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 Bruins lead 32 seconds into the period. It was Boston's fourth shorthanded goal of the entire season.
Daniel Paille
After the ensuing faceoff, Carolina attempted to get the puck into the Boston zone and organize their power play, which still had 1:10 remaining. However, a poorly excecuted attempt to get the puck back to the point by the Hurricanes Brandon Sutter led to Boston dumping the puck down the ice. Ward interecepted the puck behind his own net and set the puck up to the boards on the right hand side only to have David Krejci take the puck right off the stick of a Hurricanes player and fire the puck to Blake Wheeler, who was camped out unguarded in the slot. Wheeler one-timed his shot past Ward for a 2-0 Bruins lead just 49 seconds after Paille's goal for their second shorthanded goal of the period.
Blake Wheeler
With just 21 seconds remaining on Hunwick's penalty, the puck was dropped and immediately dumped into the Carolina end. A poor effort to make a pass in the neutral zone by the Hurricanes led to an immediate turnover to Paille, who slid the puck back to defenseman Dennis Wideman. He retreated back about 10 feet into the right faceoff circle and threw a cross-ice homerun pass to Steve Begin at the Carolina blueline. Begin deflected the puck up ice to himself, and with Paille on his left drawing the attention of the defender looking to intercept any crossing pass, Begin set himself and fired the puck at Ward from the faceoff circle. The puck went through Ward's legs and hit a part of his body, which caused it to jump upwards a couple of feet as it found the back of the net for the Bruins third shorthanded goal in the space of one minute and four seconds and all during the same penalty kill for Boston. Begin's goal came 15 seconds after Wheeler's with 6 seconds still remaining on Hunwick's penalty.
The three shorthanded goals in 1:04 set an NHL record for the fastest three shorthanded goals and additionally, in the 92 year history of the NHL, the Bruins became the first team to ever score three goals on a single penalty kill.
Steve Begin
Eric Cole would score at 14:30 followed by Patrick Dwyer at 17:06 for the Hurricanes to cut the Bruins 3-0 lead down to 3-2 after the second period, no doubt giving the home fans some concern, but the third period was played scoreless, despite two power plays for Boston and one for Carolina, until Milan Lucic scored an unassisted, empty net goal to seal the Bruins 4-2 victory and secure their playoff spot.
Rask got the win for the Bruins with 33 saves while Ward took the loss, giving up the three shorthanded goals to start the second period despite his 38 saves throughout the rest of the game.
Today's featured jersey is a 2009-10 Boston Bruins Blake Wheeler jersey as worn when he scored the second goal of the Bruins three shorthanded goal outburst against the Carolina Hurricanes on this date in 2010.
This style of Bruins jersey debuted in 2007-08 with the introduction of the new Reebok Edge jerseys and is a modern interpretation of the club's classic jerseys worn from 1967-68 through 1973-74, which included their two Stanley Cup victories in 1970 and 1972.
Today's video section is Jack Edwards exstatic call of the Bruins record setting three shorthanded goals as the fans are propelled into a frenzy. Hang on and don't blink, it's a crazy ride.
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