Patrice Bergeron Scores 2OT Winner to Lift Bruins Past Hurricanes in Game 1

The Boston Bruins scored a 4-3 double-overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winning goal just over a minute into the second OT period.

A five-overtime marathon between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets prevented Carolina and Boston from playing their game as scheduled Tuesday night. The face-off was moved to 11 a.m. local time with the NHL using a "bubble" concept to complete its season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The East is playing its games in Toronto, while the Western Conference hub is Rogers Place in Edmonton. Teams were reseeded after the qualifying round and all series are now using a traditional seven-game format with 16 teams remaining in pursuit of the Stanley Cup.

Notable Stats

Boston Goals: David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron

Boston Assists: Pastrnak, Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Ondrej Kase

Carolina Goals: Joel Edmundson, Brock McGinn, Haydn Fleury

Carolina Assists: Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trocheck

Tuukka Rask (BOS): 25 saves

Petr Mrazek (CAR): 36 saves

Bruins Still Shaking Off Hiatus Rust

Boston was the NHL's best team before play was halted March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its 44-26-12 record equated to 100 points, six more than their closest competitor, the reigning Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. It also owned the league's best goal differential at plus-53.

The Bruins haven't looked nearly as dominant in the bubble. They lost all their of their seeding games by a combined score of 9-4, which dropped them down to the fourth seed in the East despite their terrific play during the 70 games before the stoppage.

Brad Marchand, who ranked second on the team in scoring with 87 points in the regular season, shrugged off the team's early struggles in the bubble before Game 1.

"I mean, let's call it what it is: They're exhibition games for the playoffs," Marchand told reporters. "It's hard to have the same mentality as a playoff series. So we're not going to base our performance—what it's going be against Carolina—on that."

The Bruins still didn't look anything close to unstoppable Wednesday. It was a back-and-forth game throughout and they benefited from a favorable ruling on their second goal.

They managed to grab the 1-0 series lead, which Hockey Reference notes gives them a 69.6 percent chance to advance, and were able to generate some scoring from outside their elite top line. Both those are positive signs to build off heading into Game 2.

That said, Boston must ultimately find its peak form again to win a championship.

Canes' Goaltending Holds Key To Success

Carolina's advanced statistics ranked near the top of the NHL in recent years. They ranked second in expected goal percentage at even strength during the 2019-20 regular season and carried a positive expected goal share on the power play despite getting just 44.3 percent of the PP time, per Money Puck.

Lackluster play between the pipes has prevented the Hurricanes from becoming a powerhouse, though.

They ranked 16th in save percentage during the regular season (.903) with Petr Mrazek and James Reimer splitting most of the starts in goal.

That tandem combined to post a .955 save percentage during the Canes' three qualifying games against the New York Rangers. The result was a series sweep.

Mrazek couldn't produce that type of performance during regulation Wednesday, stopping 25 of the 28 Bruins' shots (.893), though as mentioned one of Boston's goals was controversial. To his credit, he did step up in overtime to give his team every chance to secure a win.

The offense looked primed for a strong postseason against a Bruins defense that led the NHL in goals against during the regular season (2.4 goals allowed per game).

Whether the Canes can get either of their goalies to play a similar level consistently will probably determine how long their postseason journey lasts.

What's Next?

Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Network.