Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins

Martinook scores on late breakaway to lead Hurricanes past Bruins, 3-2

It was off target.

“It went in. That's all that matters,” the Hurricanes forward said after scoring on a breakaway with 2:27 left to snap a third-period tie and give Carolina a 3-2 victory over the Bruins on Wednesday night, snapping Boston's six-game winning streak.

“Just tried to shoot quick. Didn’t really hit the spot I wanted to hit,” Martinook added. “Sometimes you catch a goalie off guard, and I feel like that’s kind of what it did. So, didn’t really hit where I wanted to hit. But it doesn’t matter. It went in.”

Brad Marchand scored twice in the third period to rally Boston from a two-goal deficit and tie the game with 12 minutes to play. The goals gave him 395 for his career, tying Ray Bourque on the Bruins' all-time list.

It was Boston's first loss in almost two weeks and its first in regulation since Jan. 4.

“We’ve played in this building a lot over the last three or four years — in big moments, too,” said Martinook, who lost to Boston in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals and the first round the next year but eliminated the Bruins in the first round in 2022.

“We know that this crowd can juice them up a little bit," he said. "You just focus on your next shift and try and get the momentum back on your side. And I felt like we did that pretty good.”

Spencer Martin, waived by Columbus and claimed by the Hurricanes last week, stopped 25 shots in his first start for Carolina. He had not played since Jan. 2, when he took a 4-1 loss for the Blue Jackets against the Bruins.

"Great for him," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “He comes into a tough spot — we throw him to the wolves. And he held his own and he gave us a chance to win. Made a couple saves — crucial ones early, and then a couple of late, obviously, too.”

Martin Nečas and Teuvo Teräväinen also scored for the Hurricanes, giving them a 2-0 advantage after two periods.

After the Bruins tied it, Martinook took a feed from Nečas and wristed the puck through Linus Ullmark’s legs.

“They definitely had the momentum,” Nečas said. “It was good to kind of slow the game down a little bit because they were buzzing, and just take it back.”

Boston cut the margin to one when Trent Frederic fought for the puck behind the net and then slid it across the slot to Marchand. The same line delivered eight minutes into the third when Marchand poked the rebound of Charlie Coyle’s shot through Martin’s legs to tie it.

Marchand has 395 goals — all with Boston. Bourque, the Hall of Fame defenseman and five-time Norris Trophy winner, scored 395 of his 410 career goals with the Bruins.

Ullmark made 30 saves for Boston in his second start since missing 10 days with a lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host New Jersey on Thursday night.

Bruins: Visit Ottawa on Thursday night.

CAR leads series 1-0