After Game 3, Lightning won’t undervalue Bruins
Between an unusual amount of penalties, uncharacteristic play and a switch of goaltenders , Boston on Wednesday did not at all look like the same team Tampa Bay has faced over the course of the season.
The Lightning saw the Bruins at their worst in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. And after the 7-1 win, Tampa Bay forward Alex Killorn said he’s not expecting the same kind of play in Game 4.
“I think in these games when you get up, I think six goals at the end, the type of hockey that’s being played is not the hockey that’s going to be played on Friday,” Killorn said. “You don’t want to pick up any bad habits in that sense. We kind of have to just switch gears, get back to the way we were playing in the beginning of the game and just readjust, because you know that third period is not going to be indicative of how the game’s going to be played Friday.”
The Lightning’s power play finally got on track, scoring on three of their six chances after going without a goal on their previous 16.
“You can’t take your foot off the gas,” coach Jon Cooper said Thursday morning. “Boston, there’s a reason why they had all the points they had. They’ve got a solid core group that it seems like every other year they’re getting to the [Stanley Cup] final or darn close. They know how to win and they’ve got some outstanding leadership over there, so we don’t expect these guys to lay over.”
Boston’s sole goal Wednesday came from Brad Marchand early in the second period. Marchand, a member of the Bruins’ “perfection line,” sneaked by the Lightning defense to a spot to the right of the crease. David Pastrnak shuffled a pass to Torey Krug, who threw the puck on net from the left faceoff circle. Marchand converted to put the Bruins on the board.
Marchand has been one of the biggest threats to the Lightning in the series, with four goals and one assist. He has seven goals and five assists since the start of postseason play.
Boston coach Bruce Cassidy was outspoken Thursday about how the players in the middle group on his team need to step up. The Bruins can’t afford any “passengers” against the Lightning. Cassidy said the team was still “licking [its] wounds” the morning after Game 3.
Players like Jake DeBrusk, Nick Ritchie, David Krejci and Charlie Coyle will need to make a bigger impact come Game 4 after a suspension of play due to racial injustice protests. Both Ritchie and Krejci took a combined three penalties on Wednesday.
“We’ll be better,” Cassidy said. “We’ve got a good group in there, our core group will be ready to go. They’re going to have to pull that middle group along.”