Lightning strike a blow
OT loss puts B’s in 3-1 hole
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was tracking Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn along the boards while detecting a net presence early in overtime last night.
Killorn won his battle and centered the puck to
LIGHTNING BRUINS 4 3
pinching defenseman Dan Girardi who redirected it by Rask at 3:18 to lift the Lightning to a 4-3 victory over the Bruins.
Bruins right winger Brian Gionta was defending on the play and the puck glazed his skate before Girardi tipped it in.
Tampa Bay took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series and can advance to the finals with a win tomorrow at Amalie Arena.
“I was just looking at the highlights and he passed across and it hit Gio’s skate and then Girardi made the goal, a typical overtime goal,” said Rask. “It was frustrating but we are going to go at it again (tomorrow). We always review wins and losses and the things we did right and the things we did wrong and move on.”
Steven Stamkos tied the game at 3 at 12:58 of the third period on a play that featured a flagrant non-call behind the Bruins cage. Nikita Kucherov stripped the puck from Charlie McAvoy and upended him in the process. The play continued when J.T. Miller got the puck from Kucherov and fed Stamkos in the slot, who beat Rask high on the glove side.
The Bruins have been on the business end of several bad calls and non-calls throughout the series, according to Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy.
“We seem to be going down this road a lot lately in these things and the non-calls,” said Cassidy. “It looked like he reached in and pulled him down. Charlie is a strong guy and it wasn’t called, and it’s in our net and that’s that.”
Brad Marchand was the victim on a non-call during a third period breakaway in Game 2 in Tampa. Bolts defenseman Anton Stralman slashed Marchand’s hand before he lost control of the puck. Marchand was less diplomatic than Cassidy about the officiating.
“We had the lead and it was a very blatant grab on Charlie’s shoulder and it turned into a goal,” said Marchand. “The missed calls are costing goals and losing games and it is unfortunate that they can’t get it right.”
The Bruins took their first lead since Game 1 on a shorthanded goal by Patrice Bergeron at 6:36 of the third period. Marchand made the play that began with a forced turnover in the B’s end. Marchand zipped down the boards and fed a lead pass to Bergeron in the slot. Bergeron deflected the puck past Bolts goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy high to the stick side for his second of the game.
“I was just trying to buy a little time because I didn’t know if Bergy was going to get by his guy or not,” said Marchand.
The Bruins first power play unit tied the game 2-2 at 2:40 of the second. Torey Krug delivered a sweet feed to Bergeron for a one-timer from the base of the right circle that beat Vasilevskiy high to the stick side.