Is this an Eastern Conference finals matchup that most people saw? Definitely not, but here we are.What can you say about the Carolina Hurricanes other than they have fully embraced the "Bunch of Jerks" moniker? They went from the last team to advance to the second round to the first team to solidify a spot in the conference finals. They easily swept the New York Islanders out of the Stanley Cup playoffs and will have had a week off by the time the puck drops on this series.SN STAFF PREDICTIONS: | | In comparison, the Bruins are coming off a hard-fought, six-game series against the Columbus Blue Jackets that wrapped up Monday. The series was the second one of the postseason where Boston had to come back from a 2-1 deficit. Against Columbus, they eventually rattled off three straight wins including a convincing 3-0 victory in Game 6 to close out the series.The Bruins are in the East finals for the first time since 2013, when they went on to lose in the Stanley Cup Final. Carolina has advanced at least this far in each of its last four playoff appearances.Boston Bruins (-150)vs. Carolina Hurricanes (+130): Schedule, breakdown, predictionDate Matchup Time (TV channel) May 9Game 1 Alex Erickson Jersey at Boston8 p.m. ET (NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA)May 12Game 2 at Boston3 p.m. ET(NBC, CBC, SN, TVA)May 14Game 3 at Carolina8 p.m. ET(NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA)May 16Game 4 at Carolina8 p.m. ET(NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA)*May 18Game 5 at Boston7:15 p.m. ET(NBC, CBC, SN, TVA)*May 20Game 6 at Carolina8 p.m. ET(NBCSN, CBC, SN1, TVA)*May 22Game 7 at Boston8 p.m. ET(NBCSN, CBC, SN360, TVA)(*if nece sary) Season seriesThe Bruins won the season series 2-1 but each game was close. Boston's No. 1 goaltender, Tuukka Rask, started the Bruins' lone lo s, allowing five goals on 37 shots. On the flip side, Carolina netminder Petr Mrazek, who appears to be healthy enough to return from an injury, started in the win(three goals allowed on 30 shots). Mrazek's backup and recent fill-in, Curtis McElhinney, allowed four goals on38 shots in an overtime lo s.Sebastian Aho led all scorers with four goals one short-handed and added two a sists while teammate TeuvoTeravainen chipped in four points (two goals, two a sists). Brad Marchand paced the Bruins with two goals and three a sists, including the game-winning goal in the first matchup of the season.DATEROADHOMERESULTOct. 30BruinsHurricanesBOS, 3-2Dec. 23BruinsHurricanesCAR, 5-3Mar. 5HurricanesBruinsBOS, 4-3 (OT)OffenseCarolina: The Hurricanes rollfour lines and can score up and down the roster. Youngsters TeuvoTeravainen (four goals) and Sebastian Aho (three goals) and veterans Carolina Panthers Jackets Justin Williams (two goals) and Jordan Staal (two goals) led the way in the second round. Staal netted the game-winning overtime goal in Game 1 that set the Hurricanes down the path toward a sweep.Carolina has also gotten big point production from the defense corps, led by Jaccob Slavin's 11 a sists. That helps explain how the Hurricanes have 3.09 GF/GP when they were at 2.96 during the regular season. They also have 26 goals when skating 5-on-5, which leads all postseason teams. Carolina's offensegot back Andrei Svechnikov late in the second round and should get back Micheal Ferland in this round. Ferland had one of the best seasons of his career in 2018-19.Boston:David Pastrnak has had an up-and-down postseason, Julian Stanford Jersey but the 2019 NHL All-Star did net four goals in the second round, including the game-winning goal late in Game 5. He has 12 points (seven goals, five a sists) in 12 career games against Carolina. Boston will need him, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand to increase their production. The line has not matched its regular-season level of output, but it has shown its ability in spurts. The unit will need to be more consistent.The rest of Boston's forwardswill need to continue chipping in goals, because the Hurricanes have shown they can shut down some of the top players in the game. David Krejci and trade deadline acquisition Charlie Coyle have stepped up their games.Edge: Boston. DefenseCarolina: Among the teams remaining, Carolina has allowed the fewest goals against (25) with an impre sive 2.27 GA/GP (second-best). That's not a surprise, considering the Hurricanes have allowed the second-fewest shots against per game in the playoffs (27.8). They'll face a solid test in this series as the Bruins have the third-best GF/GP (3.08) and will pepper their netminders (35.7 shots/GP) with an attack that has produced the most shot attempts for (620).Slavin has been a star in the postseason and a workhorse along the blue Giovanni Ricci Jersey line (26:36 TOI). His partner, Dougie Hamilton, will have something to prove to the team that traded him 2015. Those two will need to step up their games; they are minus-3 and minus-5, respectively,against Boston in their careers.Boston: Compared to Carolina, the Bruins are not far off their GA number (28) and are first in GA/GP (2.15). They'll be without Charlie McAvoy for Game 1, however; the NHL suspended him for a . McAvoy was one of the best defensemen in the second round and made a brilliant save in Game 5 one of his 26 blocks in the playoffs.His partner, captain Zdeno Chara, is no slouch, though. The 6-9 Chara leads all playoff performers this year with a plus-9. He also holds an impre sive plus-20 in 69 career games against Carolinato go with 28 points.Edge: Even. GoaltendingCarolina: Who will start for the Hurricanes is still to be determined, but considering how Mrazek and Kamal Martin Jersey McElhinney performed through the first two rounds, it probably doesn't matter. Mrazek, 27, went 5-3 with a 2.22 GAA and a .913 save percentage before getting hurt in Game 2 of the Islanders series. McElhinney, who will turn 36 on May 23, stepped in and went 3-0 with a 1.56 GAA and a .947 save percentage.In seven career games vs. Boston, McElhinney is 3-2-1 with a 2.21 GAA and a .934 save percentage. His numbers far exceed those of Mrazek, who is 4-2-1 in nine games with a 3.09 GAA and an .888 save percentage.Mrazek was Carolina's No. 1 netminder this season, however, andis expected to be back between the pipes if healthy.Boston: Tuukka Rask is 8-5 in this year's postseason with a 2.02 GAA, a .938 save percentage and a shutout; after the series against the Blue Jackets, his GAA dropped to 1.71 and his save percentage rose to .948.As coach Bruce Ca sidy said after Rask's shutout in the clinching Game 6 victory, "I think he was our best player tonight. I thought we had a lot of guys play well, but he was our best player."Rask is 9-4-3 with a 2.27GAA and a .928 save percentage in17 games liftetime against Carolina,Edge: Boston. Mrazek's status remains uncertain and Rask has been phenomenal.Special teamsThe Hurricanes' power play has been a