BOSTON -- Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour felt really confident about winning his coach's challenge for goalie interference in the second period of Game 4 against the Bruins on Sunday afternoon.
Brind'Amour was so confident, in fact, that he would've wagered quite a bit on it.
"I would've bet my life on that one," Brind'Amour told reporters after his team's 5-2 loss at TD Garden. "It's tough, because it's clearly -- especially the view that we saw after. It's in between his pads loose but the guy comes in from the side, pushes his pads, squirts the puck out and taps it in.
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"It's a little different than if the guy had come in from the front and was actually playing the puck. You can't play the puck when it's in between his legs from the side and knock the goalie sideways to turn and squirt it out. If you can, then I don't know how (Nino) Niederreiter's goal isn't a goal in the first game when they said 100 percent not a goal."
The play in question was a pivotal moment in the game.
The Bruins tied the score 1-1 with 1:16 left in the second period when Jake DeBrusk drove to the net, found the puck loose in the crease in front of Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta and jammed it past him for the goal.
There was some contact between DeBrusk and Raanta, but not enough for the referees to overturn the original call on the ice -- a good goal -- after a coach's challenge review. The Hurricanes went back on the penalty kill as a result of losing the coach's challenge.
After the 'Canes took another penalty near the end of the second period, the B's opened the third period with a 5-on-3 advantage and scored 44 seconds into it when Brad Marchand beat Raanta with a perfect shot.
This goal gave the B's a 3-2 lead, and they added two more goals later in the third period to secure a 5-2 victory and even this first-round playoff series at two wins apiece.
The Hurricanes' lack of discipline cost them big time in Game 4. They committed eight penalties and gave the Bruins nine power plays, including two separate 5-on-3 advantages of more than a minute each.
Boston Bruins
Carolina had the No. 1 ranked penalty kill during the regular season, but it's hard for any unit to successfully defend against nine power plays, especially when the opponent has highly skilled forwards such as Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak on the ice.