It only took him 12 and a half NHL seasons, but Zdeno Chara finally got his first hat trick. The Bruins tacked on 4 more goals and Tim Thomas topped the scoring performance off with a 31 shot shutout of the Carolina Hurricanes. Mark Stuart got the scoring started in his first game of the year, pouring in a slap shot from the blue line only 7:56 into the first period with McQuaid and Horton assisting. After causing a Milan Lucic goal to be waved off due to a delayed slashing penalty, the Bruins captain extended the lead to 3-0 when he posted back to back goals in the second half of the first period.
If anybody was worried about a repeat of the Canadiens collapse of a few games ago, the B's came out in the second period looking to ease those concerns. Although they were stymied for much of the frame, Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron found the back of the net just 13 seconds apart (just as they did in the tough loss to the Penguins on Saturday) to more or less shut the door on the Hurricanes. But Zdeno Chara just wasn't done. After an early period goal by Michael Ryder in the 3rd, Zdeno Chara bombed a slapper from the point during a powerplay to tally his 3rd goal of the night - and celebrated accordingly. After the light went off, Chara skated back towards center ice, removed his right glove and mimicked a "throwing hat onto the ice" motion."It's always nice to say I've done it, I've had a hat trick", said Chara after the game.
The Bruins don't have long to gloat over tonight's victory, however. They take on these same Hurricanes down in Raleigh on Tuesday night, a game in which the Hurricanes absolutely will be looking for revenge (Backup goalie Justin Peters, who came on in relief of Cam Ward, got started on the revenge tonight by picking up two frustration driven penalties). The Bruins, who have won 4 of their last 5, now sit tied with the Lightning for 2nd in the Eastern Conference behind the Flyers.
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