RALEIGH, N.C. — It doesn’t get much scarier than this on Halloween.
It was fright Thursday night at the Lenovo Center as the reeling Bruins lost their second straight game — and fifth in the last six outings — 8-2 to the Hurricanes.
Boston was slow getting to loose pucks, slow to get bodies and pucks to the net, and slow to react to Carolina’s consistent charges.
The Hurricanes unleashed a torrid attack that kept the Bruins from establishing any kind of rhythm. Boston stumbled on the power play, while shorthanded, and at even strength.
“Yeah, their puck pressure gave us a lot of problems,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “But the bottom line is, no matter what facet of our game [you want to point to], it wasn’t good enough.”
Montgomery unmasked a new lineup for the holiday tussle, but it was the same old story for a team that couldn’t mask its troubles.
Boston (4-6-1) was bitten by its season-long problems: a lack of connectivity and quality chances — they landed just 15 shots on Pyotr Kochetkov — and an abundance of time in the penalty box.
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The Bruins were called for five minor penalties and the Hurricanes took advantage to the tune of three power-play goals that gave them a 5-2 lead midway through the second.
There was still 30-plus minutes of hockey left, but it felt, for all intents and purposes, over at that point.
“It’s tough, right? I mean, it’s not like the same person doing it over and over on the same play,” said Trent Frederic. “But I think just moving our feet and checking, you obviously want to stay away from the stick penalties. You’re going to end up killing some penalties throughout a game and it does hurt the momentum because you have different guys sitting and stuff, but it’s part of the game.”
The Hurricanes raced to a 4-1 lead after the first as the new-look Bruins’ lineup played a lot like its previous iterations.
Johnny Beecher clipped Kochetkov in the crease and was about to head to the box when the hosts struck for their first with the extra attacker.
Sebastian Aho worked the puck out from behind the net with a pass to Andrei Svechnikov, who fed an unmarked Jack Roslovic, who snapped it under Jeremy Swayman’s blocker from the slot for the 1-0 lead.
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The Bruins benefitted from some Hurricanes misdeeds (Jesperi Kotkaniemi double minor for high-sticking Max Jones and Jalen Chatfield interference on Brad Marchand) giving them 1:12 of five-on-three time.
Marchand made it sting when his centering pass ricocheted off Jaccob Slavin’s ankle and past Kochetkov to equal things.
Boston received another five on three when the Carolina bench was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (with Chatfield still in jail) but were unable to dent Kochetkov and seize the momentum.
The Hurricanes (7-2-0) then went on a 52-second, three-goal blitz, including a pair of power-play pops, that took all the wind out of the Bruins’ sails.
With Cole Koepke off (interference), Svechnikov tipped a Shayne Gostisbehere shot to the top shelf past Swayman at 17:14.
Just 38 seconds later, the hosts pushed it to 3-1 when Jackson Blake tipped a Dmitry Orlov shot past Swayman. It was the 303rd assist for Orlov, the onetime Bruin who was playing in his 800th NHL game.
Martin Necas capped the carnage when his flip toward the net clanked off Brandon Carlo’s skate and past Swayman for the 4-1 advantage.
“You’ve got to stay out of the box,” said defenseman Mason Lohrei. “If you want to win games, it doesn’t matter how good your kill is, eventually they’re going to break through. So, we’re at our best when we’re playing five on five and we’re playing fast, and we get all four lines and all six D into it. So, we just have to do our best to stay out of the box.”
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The Bruins showed some signs of life to start the second.
A couple of big hits (Nikita Zadorov slammed Kotkaniemi to the ice behind the Boston net and Jones steamrolled Necas in the slot) sandwiched Hampus Lindholm’s second goal of the season that trimmed it to 4-2.
Carolina, however, quelled the uprising quickly with two more goals in less than a minute.
With Beecher off for high-sticking, Svechnikov scored his second of the game, jamming his own rebound under Swayman’s pads and across the line at 8:51.
Next it was Roslovic’s turn to get his second.
After Jordan Martinook outmaneuvered Lohrei to the puck behind the Boston net, he dished to Roslovic in the slot, and the winger roofed it for the 6-2 lead at 9:32.
That was the end of the night for Swayman (16 saves), who gave way to Joonas Korpisalo (13 saves).
Lindholm appeared to score his second of the night, but it was nullified when referees deemed Elias Lindholm invaded Kochetkov’s crease.
Sean Walker and Kotkaniemi each scored their first of the season in the third for the final.
Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him @globejimmcbride.