The Boston Bruins' Chuck Kobasew (right) celebrates his goal against Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward and Tim Gleason during the second period of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Raleigh, N.C., on Tuesday.
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Boston Bruins played an entire season to get to this point: a winner-take-all Game 7 in their building.
With such high stakes, the NHL’s top remaining seed wasn’t about to get caught up in settling a score. Instead, the Bruins moved a step closer to giving the Carolina Hurricanes a different kind of knockout punch.
They evened the Eastern Conference semifinals and sent the series back to Boston for a decisive seventh game by beating Carolina 4-2 Tuesday night.
“We’ve been working hard all year to get home-ice advantage,” center Patrice Bergeron said. “And there it is, and we have it.”
Mark Recchi had a goal and an assist. Marc Savard scored before leaving in the third period with a minor leg injury. Steve Montador and Chuck Kobasew added goals, Bergeron had two assists and Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots in his second straight victory.
“Basically, I’m trying not to let them get anything to feed off of,” Thomas said.
The Bruins led 2-0 barely 5 minutes in and made it stand to win their second straight since falling one loss shy of elimination. The reward: A trip back to Beantown for Thursday night’s Game 7, their first at home since losing in the first round to Montreal in 2004.
“From the time we fell behind 3-1 in the series, our goal was to create a Game 7,” coach Claude Julien said. “We’re there now. . . . Getting to Game 7 is one thing. Now we’ve got to decide what we’re going to do with it.”
Ducks even series
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist and Jonas Hiller made 38 saves as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 Thursday to force a decisive Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Scott Niedermayer and Bobby Ryan added assists for the Ducks, who built a two-goal lead in the second period and managed to shut down the Red Wings until Johan Franzen brought Detroit within a goal with 2:25 to play.
Game 7 will be in Detroit on Thursday, with the winner moving on to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the conference finals.