NHL

Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins

· National Hockey League
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Bruins set NHL record: 12 straight home wins to start season

The Bruins broke the mark of 11 that was set by the 1963-64 Chicago Blackhawks and equaled by the Florida Panthers last season.

“That felt awesome,” Bruins first-year coach Jim Montgomery said. “We talked about it after the second (period) going into the third. There’s been a lot of great teams in this league and you’re able to set a precedent, break a record. It’s pretty special and it doesn’t happen if those guys don’t believe in themselves like they do.”

Boston, which trailed 2-0 late in the second period, tied it with 9:33 left in regulation when David Krejci scored his second of the game on a shot from the right point.

“It’s never fun being down going into the third, you’re sitting in here (in the locker room) trying to figure it out,” Krejci said. “You want to come out and do the job, something special on the line. It’s hard to win in this league. To get 12 in a row at home is pretty special.”

In overtime, Carolina was playing shorthanded after being called for too many men on the ice when Pastrnak one-timed a pass from Brad Marchand inside the far post from above the left circle.

“It was a big win for us, obviously, coming from behind," Pastrnak said.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Stefan Noesen each scored a power-play goal for Carolina, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 38 saves. The Hurricanes lost their fifth straight.

In a rematch of last spring’s opening-round playoff series that the Hurricanes won in seven games, Carolina shutout the NHL’s highest scoring team for nearly two periods and jumped ahead a pair of power-play goals in the opening period.

“We took too many penalties. That's hurting us right now," Kotaniemi said. “I think 5-on-5 we're doing a really good job. We started good tonight and couldn't keep that up.”

Boston’s tying goal was originally disallowed because of goaltender interference on Nick Foligno but overturned on a coach’s challenge after it was ruled that he was nudged into the crease by Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce.

Boston starting goaltender Linus Ullmark made 28 saves but had to leave with 13:03 left in the third period with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Teammate Connor Clifton had jumped on him to block a shot during a scramble. Jeremy Swayman made six stops in relief.

Carolina's Noesen scored at 6:34 in to make it 1-0. And with five minutes left in the period, Kotkaniemi collected the puck near the side of the net after Seth Jarvis’ shot bounced off the back glass and slipped it inside the post at 15:05.

Krejci scored for Boston with 31 seconds left in the second.

Boston came in with a league-high 82 goals in 20 games (4.10 per game), but it was held to relatively few chances despite getting a 5-on-3 power-play advantage early on.

TAKE NOTE

The Bruins honored captain Patrice Bergeron, who recorded his 1,000th career point when the team was on the road Monday against Tampa Bay, with a message on the Jumbotron. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Bergeron became just the fourth Bruin to reach the mark, joining Hall of Famers Ray Bourque (1,506), Johnny Bucyk (1,339) and Phil Esposito (1,012).

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Bruins: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

Regular Season Series

BOS leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 6:34 Goal scored by Stefan Noesen assisted by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov (PPG)
Goal 1st Period 15:05 Goal scored by Jesperi Kotkaniemi assisted by Seth Jarvis and Brett Pesce (PPG)
Goal 2nd Period 19:29 Goal scored by David Krejci assisted by David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha
Goal 3rd Period 10:27 Goal scored by David Krejci assisted by Pavel Zacha and Nick Foligno
Goal 4th Period 3:19 Goal scored by David Pastrnak assisted by Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron (PPG)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/car.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCAR https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/bos.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOS
14 Blocked Shots 3
27 Hits 25
11 Takeaways 7
36 Shots 41
2 Power Play Goals 1
6 Power Play Opportunities 6
33.3 Power Play Percentage 16.7
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
30 Faceoffs Won 40
42.9 Faceoff Win Percent 57.1
8 Giveaways 13
6 Total Penalties 5
12 Penalty Minutes 12
Boston Bruins Boston Bruins Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Dans Locmelis, C Out Feb 28
Carolina Hurricanes Carolina Hurricanes Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Shayne Gostisbehere, D Day-To-Day Mar 18
Pyotr Kochetkov, G Injured Reserve Mar 6

Game Information

TD Garden

Location: Boston, MA
Attendance: 17,850 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 42 19 90 6
Pittsburgh 34 18 83 15
NY Islanders 39 24 83 5
Columbus 35 21 81 11
Philadelphia 31 23 74 12
Washington 33 27 74 8
New Jersey 34 31 70 2
NY Rangers 28 31 64 8

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 42 20 90 6
Tampa Bay 41 21 86 4
Montreal 37 20 84 10
Boston 37 23 82 8
Detroit 37 23 82 8
Ottawa 34 23 77 9
Toronto 29 28 70 12
Florida 33 31 69 3
Full Standings