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

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

Max Domi, an in-season acquisition, scored twice and tallied three points to lead the Hurricanes. Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak had goals for Boston.

Carolina's next opponent will be the winner of Sunday's Game 7 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers.

Home ice wound up being a major factor in the series. For just the ninth time in NHL playoff history, the host team won each game. Boston hadn't lost in the first round since 2016-17, reaching at least the semifinals in three of the past four seasons and making a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2018-19.

Carolina and Boston had also faced each other in two of the past three postseasons prior to this one, and it was the Bruins doing the eliminating both times (during the Eastern Conference finals in 2018-19 and in the second round of the NHL's COVID-19 tournament of 2020-21). The Hurricanes' third try proved to be the charm, where they could finally send Boston to an early offseason instead.

It was hardly an easy road, though. Carolina played the entire series without starting goaltender Frederik Andersen (lower-body injury) and in Game 2 Boston forward David Pastrnak ran into Andersen's backup Antti Raanta and sent him out with an upper-body ailment. Rookie Pyotr Kochetkov stepped in to make his NHL playoff debut and helped the Hurricanes to victory.

For Game 3, Boston made a crucial goaltending change from Linus Ullmark (.860 SV%, 4.16 GAA in Game 1 and Game 2) to rookie Jeremy Swayman and won the next two games by a combined score of 9-4.

The Hurricanes stormed back for an