The Carolina Hurricanes appeared to be headed to a Game 4 victory and a 2-2 split in their best-of-seven series against the Boston Bruins on Monday when things went off the rails.

With Carolina up 2-0 in the third period, the Bruins rallied with four unanswered goals in just under seven minutes to claim an eventual 4-3 victory.

"That was, quite frankly, as ugly of a period that I've ever seen us play. ... We got it handed to us," Hurricanes forward Justin Williams told reporters after the loss.

He added, "Mentally, the sharpness wasn't there from everybody, and it snowballed into something we didn't want and we couldn't catch it in time."

The Hurricanes seized control in the opening 40 minutes, but the battle-tested Bruins would not be denied in the final frame. Boston held Carolina to just two shots on goal in the third period and completely took over:

(Corsi For rating, expected goals for percentage, high-danger scoring chances percentage)

Following the loss, Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour put the onus on himself to make sure the Hurricanes are better prepared to close out a big game.

"The lack of pushback that we needed is something that I haven't seen out of this group," he said, per TSN's Mark Masters.

"I'll take the heat for that," he continued. "I mean, I needed to have my guys better prepared for that third period that was coming. I'll learn as well."

The Hurricanes will look to stave off elimination in Game 5 on Wednesday.

(Advanced stats source: Natural Stat Trick)

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Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet lamented his club's performance after an embarrassing 7-1 loss in Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.

"Listen, we've all been embarrassed in life before," Tocchet said following the defeat, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "I played hockey. I've been embarrassed.

"I can't tell you a guy that played well tonight. We were embarrassed. It was men against boys today."

Colorado jumped out to a 3-0 advantage after a first period that saw the Coyotes muster just three shots on goal. The Avalanche owned a dominant 76.56% share of expected goals for and 82.35% of high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five overall, per Natural Stat Trick.

Coyotes starter Darcy Kuemper was chased from the net after allowing four goals on 22 shots following his sensational 49-save performance in Game 3.

Now facing a 3-1 series deficit, Tocchet challenged his team to show that they want to remain in the postseason.

"This whole bubble thing ... it's about who wants to stay," he said, per Wyshynski. "You can tell who wants to stay and who wants to go home. For this game, it looked like we wanted to go home. We'll see about the next game."

The Coyotes will look to stave off elimination in Game 5 on Wednesday.

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Andrei Svechnikov's injury might not be as bad as the Carolina Hurricanes initially feared.

"It's not as bad as maybe it looked on TV," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of his injury Monday, according to Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer.

Svechnikov was helped off the ice late in Game 3 versus the Boston Bruins with what appeared to be a leg injury. On Sunday, Brind'Amour said he "highly doubts" the young forward would be able to return this postseason.

"Certainly it looked terrible. We feared the worst, I think maybe we dodged that bullet," Brind'Amour said.

There's still no specifics, as the NHL barred all teams from revealing specifics regarding injuries during the restart.

Although he's sidelined, Svechnikov will stay in the bubble with his teammates in Toronto, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Svechnikov, 20, collected seven points in the bubble after a breakout regular season saw him register 61 points in 68 contests.

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The NHL's bubbles maintained their clean slates for the third straight week of hockey's return-to-play plan.

No positive results for COVID-19 were recorded from the 5,640 tests administered from Aug. 9-15, the league announced Monday.

Since players and staff entered the bubble in late July, zero positive tests have been recorded. The league has been testing players and staff daily in both the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles.

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Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (HBSE), the ownership group of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils, announced Monday it is pledging $20 million over the next five years to combat systemic racism, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.

HSBE's company-wide plan includes a $10-million donation from the Sixers to the NBA and National Basketball Players Association's newly launched joint foundation. The foundation is intended to "drive economic empowerment for Black communities through employment and career advancement."

"Looking at things from my perspective as a Black man in America, as an executive for HBSE, I really wanted to have action and more than just words. And that is what really excites me about this," Sixers general manager Elton Brand told Spears. "They were not just allies. They were going to another level in terms of being part of actual change."

HSBE is also creating a program through which the Sixers and Devils will provide more than $5 million in marketing assets to Black-owned businesses.

"While we will never be able to correct the past harm and injustice faced by Black Americans, it's our duty to provide resources that enable tangible action and greater opportunities for equality," HBSE founder Josh Harris said in a statement, according to Kennedy Rose of the Philadelphia Business Journal.

"We are committing to a fundamental change in our business strategy by embedding our organization with Black communities and businesses through significant and sustained investment and support."

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Forward Chris Wagner and the rest of the Boston Bruins are in full support of Tuukka Rask's decision to opt out of the NHL playoffs.

"My initial reaction to people that bash Tuukka is that they don't know what we're going through and we don't know what those people are going through," Wagner said, according to NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty.

He continued, "They don't know what we're missing. I don’t have kids, so I can't speak for Tuukka like that. But I'm sure that is a whole other level of missing somebody and wanting to be there for your kid if they're missing you and struggling. I think Tuukka tried to power through that, but there are some things that he felt like he needed to sort out."

Rask opted out Saturday and left the bubble in Toronto midway through his team's first-round series versus the Carolina Hurricanes. The 33-year-old explained that while he wanted to remain with his teammates, being with his family was more important.

He was named a Vezina Trophy finalist for his performance during the 2019-20 regular season but struggled to perform at his usual elite level during the round robin and beginning of Round 1. Rask went 1-3-0 in four games, with a .904 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average.

Wagner understands that Rask's decision wasn't one he took lightly and that family should always be the No. 1 priority.

"I definitely think it was probably a difficult decision for him," Wagner added. "I think he wants to be here. He wants to win just like all of us, but at the same time - as guys have been reiterating - family is the most important thing. Even if it is a job and it is playing hockey, family comes before everything, and Tuukka felt like he needed to be home. We all support that decision."

The Bruins lead the Hurricanes 2-1 in their series, with Game 4 scheduled for 8 p.m. on Monday.

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We ended Sunday 1-1, and while the Stars were definitely deserving of the win, nothing about the Flyers-Canadiens game suggested the over was ever in play.

Let's move on to Monday's slate, and I don't love the card here. There are a couple of Tuesday games I feel very strongly about, so tread a bit lighter today.

Boston Bruins (-125) @ Carolina Hurricanes (+105)

Game 3 was the worst the Hurricanes have played in the bubble, and it wasn't particularly close. They couldn't get anything going offensively and were expected to score just 0.93 goals at five-on-five. Their 1.75 expected goals for mark at all strengths was by far the team's lowest of the series.

Carolina is much better than that. The club led the NHL this season in expected goals for and high-danger scoring chances (both per 60 minutes). Losing Andrei Svechnikov is undoubtedly a blow, but there's plenty of depth at forward and no shortage of scoring talent available to the Hurricanes. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour will light a fire under his team after such a poor Game 3 showing.

The Bruins rallied around Jaroslav Halak in Game 3 following the departure of Tuukka Rask from the bubble, and Carolina will do the same in Svechnikov's absence. These things can energize teams, and the Canes will use Zdeno Chara's supposed slew foot on Svechnikov (it wasn't a slew foot) as a rallying cry in Game 4 while looking to even up the series.

Pick: Hurricanes (+105)

St. Louis Blues (-140) @ Vancouver Canucks (+120)

The Blues already won their Stanley Cup, and now it seems they want to get the heck out of Dodge. St. Louis knows how difficult it is to win a championship, and the players just can't find the same motivation a year later. That's understandable given the circumstances after leaving their families to enter the bubble, and returning to play in empty arenas following a five-month hiatus.

For a young, hungry team starving for success like the Canucks, the circumstances matter little. But for a club like the Blues fresh off its greatest achievement, finding motivation is surely a bit tougher. These guys are professionals and competitors, so I'm not suggesting they don't want to win. But there's a big difference between want and need, and for the Blues, the same intensity just isn't there.

The Canucks have impressed in these playoffs, and I was a bit lower on them than I should have been. But in normal circumstances, the Blues undoubtedly would cruise through this series. However, Vancouver just wants it more now. With the embarrassment of a potential sweep gone for the Blues after an overtime victory in Game 3, the Canucks will put a stranglehold on the series Monday night.

Pick: Canucks (+120)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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