Boston Bruins Clinch Playoff Berth with Win Over Carolina Hurricanes

The Boston Bruins clinched a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference yesterday afternoon by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 at TD Garden.

Boston got three short-handed goals in span of 1:04 in the second period to make it 3-0.

The first goal came at 00:32. Bruins left wing Daniel Paille skated up the ice to recover a loose puck in the Carolina zone and took the puck cross ice past Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward. He got a wrist shot past the goalie from the left circle to make it 1-0.

Blake Wheeler got the second goal for the Bruins. The Hurricanes goalie made a pass from behind the net. Boston center David Krejci beat a Carolina defender to the puck along the boards. Krejci skated toward the net from the right and fed a nice pass to Wheeler who got a snap shot past Ward at 01:21.

Steve Begin got the third goal for Boston at the 01:36 mark. He put a wrister past the Hurricanes goalie from the right slot.

All three of Boston's short-handed goals came on a penalty kill. Matt Hunwick of the Bruins was called for hooking back at 19:42 of the first period. The 64-second span of the three short handed goals is an NHL record.

Carolina scored two unanswered goals later in the second period to make the game interesting. The first goal came at 14:30 as Erik Cole scored on a wrap-around. The Hurricanes next goal came at 17:06 as Patrick Dwyer put a snap shot past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Carolina's two goals cut the Bruins lead to 3-2.

Boston's Milan Lucic got the insurance goal with one minute left in the third period. Carolina pulled their goalie for an extra skater, but Lucic put the puck in the empty net to put the game out of reach at 4-2.

Although the Bruins got their first three goals on a penalty kill, they couldn't take advantage on power play opportunities yet again. They went on the man-advantage five times and could not put the puck in the net.

Boston will close out their regular season on Sunday afternoon at Washington as they take on Alexander Ovechkin and company.