from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

With their season essentially hanging in the balance, you have to believe the Carolina Hurricanes are turning to Curtis McElhinney.

Down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference final after being shelled for two games by the Boston Bruins, they need to change something. Rod Brind’Amour inadvertently dropped a hint when he refused to name a starting goaltender for Game 3, putting up a smokescreen on Tuesday morning that he probably wouldn’t bother with if he was simply rolling out Petr Mrazek again.

The motivation behind Brind’Amour’s sleight of hand seemed to be more based in ritual than any perceived competitive advantage.

"Just why not? I can’t be that guy who does that, right?" he said. "I know who we’re starting, but I guess you’ll have to wait and see. Sorry."

Based on recent performance, it’s an easy choice.

The Bruins preyed on Mrazek’s tendency to come out to the top of the blue paint and aggressively challenge shooters while putting 10 pucks behind him on 52 shots to open the series. Those were his first two starts after returning from a groin injury and can’t be classified as confidence-builders.

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