Another thrilling road win not in cards
Lightning keep the Bruins in check
The Bruins were reminded on Wednesday in Tampa Bay that chasing the game is not a good nightly strategy.
The B’s had scored their best win of the season on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers when they came back from three separate deficits to win. But on Wednesday, the B’s never led and the Lightning were not nearly as generous as the Panthers had been on the other side of the state. Brayden Point’s second-period goal stood up as the game-winner for the Bolts for a 3-1 win at Amalie Arena.
The B’s went into the third period down by a goal but any chances they had were one-and-done until Nikita Kucherov ended it with an easy empty-netter for the Bolts. Tampa, which was playing its first game back from a West Coast trip, wasn’t clicking very well offensively, either, but they did a very good job protecting a one-goal lead for over half a game. A possible first round opponent for the B’s, the Lightning looked more playoff ready on this night.
The B’s power play woes, especially with the first unit, continued. They didn’t have a lot of opportunities but they went 0-for-2 and a timely goal could have made a big difference.
“Tough loss,” said David Pastrnak, who drew both second-period power plays. “Obviously we weren’t at our best and didn’t deserve to win. The outcome is just as it should be. Tough power play, couldn’t get a goal. And the 6-on-5 was tough, couldn’t get in the zone. It’s a tough loss and it’s bad. It was a heck of game by our group (on Tuesday) and too bad we couldn’t roll it over into today.”
Though the B’s were on the second half of a backto-back, it was not the follow-up you’d like to see after a such an emotional win in Sunrise.
“(Tuesday) there was a lot of emotion in that game and the physical product also contributes. You win a game like that and we’re sky high. then we have to come back and play an elite team in the league again. It’s a hard schedule,” coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Tampa.
For the second time in as many nights, the B’s allowed the first goal, this time with a Mitchell Chaffee tally at 10:06 of the first.
On a quick Tampa reload in the neutral zone, Mikey Eyssimont fed Nick Paul along the right wing just inside the blue line. Brandon Carlo came over to help Parker Wotherspoon but he could not keep Paul’s pass from getting through to Chaffee, who’d gotten behind James van Riemsdyk. Still, van Riemsdyk, back in the lineup for Jakub Lauko after getting scratch against the Panthers, appeared to have had Chaffee’s stick tied up from behind, but Chaffee was able to wriggle it free and snap a quick shot over Linus Ullmark’s shoulder.
Van Riemsdyk, who’d be limited to a team-low 9:37 in ice time, then took an offensive zone penalty to give the NHL’s most dangerous man advantage unit an opportunity. But the B’s were able to kill it off without much drama and then finally went on the attack.
They had several close calls, including a Charlie McAvoy hit post and a 3-on-1 that saw Charlie Coyle turn down a good shot for a pass that didn’t connect.
But the B’s tied it up at 17:11 off a good forecheck by Pastrnak, who forced Matt Dumba to drop a pass for no one behind his net. Pavel Zacha was the first one on it and he fed Danton Heinen in the right circle. Falling away from the net, Heinen ripped a wrist shot that beat Andrei Vasilevskiiy to tie it up with his 15th of the season.
With the B’s taking over the play, the Bolts’ Tanner Jeannot tried to put a stop to it on the next shift. He tagged Hampus Lindholm with a good hit along the boards and Trent Frederic went to address it. They dropped the gloves, but Jeannot got in a good first uppercut that cut open Frederic. From there, Frederic just had to hold on until he could get to the room for repairs.
The Lightning took control of the play at the start of the second, refusing to allow any scoring chances to the B’s until the Bolts took their second lead of the game. On a dominant shift from the Bolts, Point gave Tampa its lead back at 6:50. Emil Lilleberg’s shot was blocked and went behind the net, where Point collected it. With Ullmark leaning toward his left, Point simply went behind the net and beat the netminder as well as defenseman Andrew Peeke to the far post on a wraparound for a 2-1 Tampa advantage. That’s all the Bolts would need.
“Obviously it was a nice wraparound by him, but I’ve just got to check off and meet him at that post earlier if I can,” said Peeke.
The B’s then squandered a pair of PP chances.
With the game still in reach, the B’s could not get much going offensively in the third. They passed when they should have shot and forecheckers could not catch up to dump-ins, allowing the Bolts easy breakouts.
At 6:02 of the third, it looked like the Bolt had taken a two-goal lead when Steven Stamkos scored off a blocked shot. But the B’s challenged for offside and after a fairly lengthy review it was revealed that Anthony Cirelli barely beat the puck over the line.
That gave the B’s a new life, but they could do nothing with it.