Bruins Can't Put Lightning Away In The Third, Fall 5-4 In Tampa

The Lightning scored three unanswered in the third period to beat the Bruins 5-4, snapping their four game win streak.

Conor Clifton introduced himself to Ondrej Palat early in the 1st.

A cross ice pass from Ryan Callahan finds Steven Stamkos. 1-0. His 40th of the season. 1-0 Lightning.

David Pastrnak drew a hooking penalty on Nikita Kucherov and the B’s PP went to work. Pasta with a nice pass to Brad Marchand to tie the game. 1-1.

What a dish.

Steven Stamkos, again, from the right circle. Unbelievable execution off the face-off. 2-1 Lightning.

The B’s lost John Moore to what looked like an arm injury late in the first.

The Bruins couldn’t convert on a 5-on-3 PP to end the period. Please come back soon, Torey Krug.

Advertisement

Big kill midway through the 2nd as Karson Kulhman sat for hooking. No John Moore in the 2nd.

David Backes with the poke check, Charlie Coyle with the finish. Tie game 2-2.

Nice finish from Coyle.

A wacky bounce went in off Vasilevskiy, Marchand with his second of the game and all of a sudden the B’s take a 2 goal lead. 4-2 Bruins.

Connor Clifton hit everyone in sight.

Advertisement

The Lightning were pretty close to getting one back, JT Miller’s shot hits both posts but stays out.

Another big PK during the 2nd with Zdeno Chara in the box. The B’s covered Stamkos and denied him the hat trick on the PP. Three unanswered goals and the Bruins shifted the ice in Tampa.

Brandon Carlo missed the net on a four-on-two and then Steven Stamkos was in all alone the other way. Tuukka Rask denied him on the breakaway but Victor Hedman cleaned up the garbage. 4-3 Bruins.

David Pastrnak sat for four minutes after high sticking Ryan McDonagh. 0 SOG, hell of a kill.

Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak in on a 3 on 2, Pasta gets denied by Vasilevskiy. Kucherov snipes one the other way to tie the game. What a goal. 4-4.

All Tampa Bay in the 3rd period.

Advertisement

Anthony Cirelli scores with 52.2 seconds left. Tampa with three unanswered goals. 5-4 Lightning.

FINAL: Tampa 5, Boston 4

News, notes and quotes:

• Patrice Bergeron assisted on both of Brad Marchand’s goals – he has hit a new career high in points with 75.
• Bruins forgot to cover that Stamkos guy in the 1st period. He’s pretty good. 41 goals on the season, both from the right circle tonight.
• Two goal, three point performance from Brad Marchand. No. 33 and 34 on the season for Marchy. Took a stupid slashing penalty at the end of the game when the B’s pulled the extra attacker.
• Nice to see Charlie Coyle get on the scoresheet. Sweet sweet hands. David Backes made it happen with the pokecheck. This line will be interesting to watch as the season comes to a close.
• We even saw Brandon Carlo get on the board for the first time in 44 games. Monster game from him, minus missing the net on an odd man rush. 27 minutes TOI, 7 of those on the PK.
• Not a great back check from Coyle and McAvoy on Victor Hedman’s goal in the 3rd. Tuukka makes the initial breakaway save on Stamkos but no one accounted for Hedman. It was like someone turned off their controllers. Carlo missing the net on the rush before all of that even happened didn’t help, either.
• Not gonna harp too much on McAvoy, but tough finish to his game tonight. Started strong offensively but defensively found himself in some bad spots. Couldn’t get back in the play in time for Cirelli’s game-winner. He’ll bounce back.
• At times the Lightning gave Connor Clifton fits in his own zone, but he played a strong 20:33 and was hitting anyone and everyone. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he impresses more and more each and every game. Strong play since being recalled. Finished the night with 4 hits.
• Nikita Kucherov is unbelievable. Insane shot. 121 points on the season. SHEESH.
• The Lightning are for real, you cannot expect them to just go away after going up by 2. Lack of finish on odd man rushes did not help put them away.
• B’s lost John Moore to an upper body injury. No update after the game.

The B’s are back on Wednesday night against the New York Rangers. If all goes well we’ll see Marcus Johansson and Torey Krug return to the lineup.

Gotta hit the net here…

Incredibly entertaining game, but ultimately the B’s couldn’t finish it out in the 3rd. Tampa flipped the ice back in their favor and made them pay. Lack of finish on odd man rushes for the Bruins hurt tremendously, especially when you play piss poor defensively. The Lightning buried their opportunities. Fun game but obviously a disappointing end.

We’ll see the Tampa again one more time before the season ends.