Hurricanes at Bruins
The Boston Bruins look to continue their strong play at home when they host the struggling Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Boston has earned points in eight consecutive games at TD Garden (7-0-1) and has lost in regulation at home just once since Jan. 31. The Bruins are coming off a 2-1 loss at Montreal on Saturday that dropped them three points behind the Canadiens for the Northeast Division lead.
Carolina has gone from first place in the Southeast in mid-March to 13th overall in the Eastern Conference thanks to a 1-10-1 stretch. The Hurricanes' current losing streak reached four games with Saturday's 4-1 setback against the New York Rangers. The club, which is eight points out of both first place in the division and eighth in the conference, has scored a total of five goals during the four-game slide.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, FSN (Carolina), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (16-19-2): Saturday's loss was Carolina's seventh straight at home, tying the the franchise mark set from Dec. 27, 2002-Jan. 20, 2003, when the club went 0-6-1. All seven of the losses during the current slide have been in regulation, which is a franchise record. The Hurricanes' overall struggles are taking their toll on everyone, according to captain Eric Staal. "Losing is not fun. It's not fun for anybody to watch, and it's not fun for anybody to play," he said.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (24-9-4): The hot topic at Sunday's practice was Boston's inability to register a shot on goal during a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 57 seconds of the third period the night before. Coach Claude Julien was disappointed with his team's decisions during the power play. "It's a matter of putting the puck on the net, and we weren't doing it," he said. "I think we had a couple of chances to shoot and we chose to pass. You've got to be a little hungrier if you want to tie the game."
OVERTIME
1. Bruins LW Jay Pandolfo's next game will be the 900th of his NHL career.
2. The Hurricanes have been outscored 21-3 in the second period since March 14.
3. Boston posted a 5-3 victory in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 28 after being swept of the four-game series in 2011-12.
PREDICTION: Bruins 5, Hurricanes 1