Rookies can learn lesson from loss
TAMPA — Johnny Beecher rode the NHL roller coaster Monday night.
Suffice it to say, the NHL version is not as fun as a twirl on the Incredible Hulk or any of the other popular thrill rides just a two-hour drive east on Interstate 4.
The Bruins rookie experienced his high when he connected for a goahead goal in the third period just minutes after David Pastrnak had tied the game.
Gathering a short pass from Danton Heinen, Beecher accelerated down the slot and blistered a wrister past Tampa Bay goalie Jonas Johansson for a 3-2 lead that would eventually evaporate in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Lightning.
The low came with 2:20 left when Beecher was called for a borderline high-sticking penalty with the Bruins clinging to a 4-3 lead.
Although the visitors survived the penalty and an abbreviated six-on-four (Johansson had been pulled), it sapped the energy of many of the club’s top penalty killers, and Steven Stamkos tied the score with just five seconds left and Johansson still on the bench. Brandon Hagel ended it in overtime.
Beecher’s penalty was the Bruins’ seventh of the game, and they had killed four of the previous five shorthanded situations, but it will serve as a lesson that even with the top kill in the league, it’s imperative to keep sticks on the ice and not in the air, especially in crunch time.
Beecher is one of three rookies playing regular minutes for the Bruins (13-1-3), and the trio struggled against the Lightning.
Matt Poitras played just 13 shifts and had 9:58 of ice time. The 19-year-old center, who has four goals and 8 points in 17 games, has been in an offensive funk, with just one assist over the last six games.
Mason Lohrei, who started the game playing alongside Charlie McAvoy, was dropped to the third pairing with Ian Mitchell for large portions of the game after a couple of tough giveaways. Lohrei played 12:46 over 21 shifts, both team lows among defensemen.
All three have flashed this season, and hiccups are an expected part of the equation when rookies are integrated into the mix.
They’ll get a chance to bounce back Wednesday night against the Panthers.
Hitting it just right
Sticking with the amusement park theme, McAvoy delivered some Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster hits in the first period on Tanner Jeannot and
Tyler Motte.
McAvoy, who has said he needs to think more about his hits after being suspended earlier this season for an illegal check on Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson, delivered two thunderous and clean hits during the sequence.
As Jeannot drifted down the left wall, McAvoy shouldered him right in the chest, snapping the Tampa forward’s stick into three pieces. When Motte came calling for retribution, McAvoy caught him out of the corner of his eye and blasted him to the ice with another shoulder shot.
The hits changed the momentum of the game, as the Lightning were generating a ton of quality scoring chances over the first 10 minutes. They weren’t as daring after McAvoy’s hits.
“That’s a big play in a game where you can really get some momentum from that,” Charlie Coyle said.
“That’s what Charlie does. He recognizes situations. Whatever the game calls for, he’s pretty good at stepping up and making whatever play that is.
“Whether that’s a big hit, big goal, or just being poised with the puck and making good plays out there himself. He’s pretty smart about what the game needs and what we need at that given moment.”
Killing time
Derek Forbort (6:09) and Brandon Carlo (5:26) led the Bruins in shorthanded ice time against the Lightning. “Our players sacrifice for each other,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “It’s just unfortunate we had to kill that much.” . . . The Bruins did not practice Tuesday and will not hold a morning skate Wednesday before their 7 p.m. start against the Panthers . . . The Bruins and their fathers took airboat tours of the Everglades Tuesday.