Unlikely hero Max Domi scores twice as Carolina Hurricanes win Game 7, eliminate Boston Bruins

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The Carolina Hurricanes advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Game 7 of their first-round series on Saturday.

The Hurricanes got three points from Max Domi, an in-season acquisition. Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak scored for Boston.

The winner of the Pittsburgh and New York Rangers game will face the Carolina Hurricanes.

Home ice was a big factor in the series. The host team has won each game of the playoffs nine times. Boston had not lost in the first round in the past two years, reaching at least the semifinals in three of the past four seasons.

The Bruins eliminated the Hurricanes in both the Eastern Conference finals in the past three years, and in the second round of the NHL's COVID-19 tournament of 2020-21. The Hurricanes were able to send Boston to an early offseason after their third try.

It was not an easy road. In the second game of the series, Boston forward David Pastrnak ran into Antti Raanta and sent him out with an upper-body injury. Pyotr Kochetkov made his NHL playoff debut and helped the Hurricanes to victory.

In Game 3, Boston made a crucial goaltending change from Linus Ullmark to Jeremy Swayman and they won the next two games by a combined score of 9-4.

The Bruins snuffed out the Hurricanes in Game 6 after the Hurricanes had roared back for an emphatic Game 5 win.

Swayman and Raanta had never appeared in a Game 7 before. Both netminders would be tested in the first period.

Teuvo Teravainen buried a puck on Swayman in the last 90 seconds of the game.

Taylor Hall was assessed a double-minor for high sticking in the first period as Boston couldn't get out of the frame. The Bruins penalty kill came through and Swayman made several big stops to get Hall out of the box, only to have Domi slither behind the Bruins coverage and extend Carolina's lead to 2-0.

It was the first goal of his career, but it wouldn't be his last.

After DeBrusk let a puck fly past Raanta to cut the Bruins' deficit by one, Domi came calling again to make it 3-1 midway through the second period.

Boston was down by multiple goals through two periods. Pastrnak added another goal with 20 seconds left in regulation, but that record wouldn't improve.