TAMPA – The Bruins quite simply didn’t bring it against the Tampa Bay Lightning with the Eastern Conference crown hanging in the balance.
They may still win it, of course, but the road got a little more difficult for them after dropping a 4-0 decision to the Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday night where the B’s looked tired, less than fully engaged and on their heels for much of the night.
The Bruins still hold onto first place in the Atlantic Division by virtue of their game in hand on Tampa, but the Lightning now hold the edge in the all-important ROW tiebreaker heading into the final few games of the season.
It started with a 17-shot barrage from Tampa Bay in the first period where the B’s were able to hang in there thanks to Tuukka Rask and a great play by Patrice Bergeron blocking a sure Nikita Kucherov goal with his right foot as it was headed to the vacant net.
The Bolts finally broke through in the second period on a couple of long distance shots as Brayden Point fired one after a long cross-ice pass from Kucherov, and Victor Hedman followed with a blast from 60-feet that eluded Rask amidst a flurry of bodies in front of the net. Chris Kunitz finished off the second period scoring for Tampa Bay when he shoveled home a loose puck in front after Rask had flipped a puck onto his stick after deflecting a Ryan Callahan shot at the net.
The Bruins had plenty of shot attempts and Bergeron hit a post toward the end of the first period in some of Boston’s best offensive chances all night, but the Black and Gold had far too many shot attempts either go wide or get blocked by a hungry Tampa group.
It was also the best that Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has played against the Bruins this season as he finished with 30 saves while shutting down the vaunted Bruins offense for only the third time all season.
