Who's In Net For Hurricanes In Game 3? Brind'Amour Keeps Bruins Guessing
BOSTON (CBS) -- Down 2-0 to the Boston Bruins, there has been a lot of rumbling that the Carolina Hurricanes could make a change in net for Tuesday night's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. If that is indeed the case, Canes head coach Rod BrindA'mour isn't about to give the Bruins a couple extra hours to prepare for the switch.
"I know who we're starting, but I guess you'll have to wait and see," BrindA'mour told reporters Tuesday morning. "Sorry."
Ooh wee, the intrigue.
But chances are we won't be seeing Petr Mrazek in net Tuesday night. While he hasn't been terrible this series, he's given up 10 goals on the 52 shots that the Bruins have sent his way, which will likely pave the way for Curtis McElhinney to get the start as the series shifts to Raleigh. McElhinney took over when Mrazek went down with an injury in Game 1 of the second round against the Islanders, and posted a .947 save percentage and 1.56 GAA in Carolina's sweep of New York.
When told that BrindA'mour wouldn't commit to a starting goaltender, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy had a little fun with the situation.
"Ours is going to be Rask. I'll give you that," he said with a smirk.
As for who his Bruins players will be sending their shots at Tuesday night, Cassidy said a change in net for Carolina won't change their approach as they look to build a 3-0 series lead. Boston players were given a refresher on McElhinney Tuesday morning, and will get a longer presentation on the netminder later in the day just in case.
"I don't think it'll change that much. When a guy has time and space, maybe considering some of the information we've got, where there might be opportunities to expose. But at the end of the day we're shooting to score and hopefully we pick the right spot," said Cassidy.
The Bruins saw McElhinney once during the regular season when the two teams met in Boston on March 5, and were able to pick the right spot four times in a 4-3 overtime victory. We'll see if that game tape comes in handy once the puck drops Tuesday night.