GOLD STAR: Jake DeBrusk had good legs throughout the game and had plenty of frustration that he was working through, but it ended well for the left winger when it mattered most. It was DeBrusk who beat Zach Bogosian in a race for a loose puck, then drew a delayed penalty call and before roofing a breakaway bid on Andrei Vasilevskiy to score the game-winning goal for the Bruins. The goal ended a 10-game scoreless drought for DeBrusk and perhaps could begin a scoring binge for the notoriously streaky player.
DeBrusk finished with the goal, three shots on net and a takeaway in 16:26 of ice time while looking pretty at home in his new spot on the third line with Charlie Coyle and the hard-hitting, gritty Chris Wagner. The Bruins certainly could use a confident, fully productive DeBrusk when the playoffs start, so him stepping up in a big game vs. Tampa Bay was a good sign.
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BLACK EYE: The Bruins power play was awful, to put it kindly. They went 0-for-3 in the game while not even registering a quality scoring chance and they capped it off by allowing a shorthanded goal to Mitchell Stephens at the end of the second period to give Tampa Bay some life. The Bruins managed just three shots on net total on the three power-play possessions and did nothing to even generate any momentum toward even-strength play.
The bright side for the Bruins, who have been far too reliant on their PP to win against quality teams in the recent past, is that perhaps this win is a sign they can do it without the special teams if it comes to that in the postseason.
TURNING POINT: The Bruins were the much better team through the first 40 minutes, outshooting the Lightning 31-14 through two periods. They did allow a shorthanded goal at the end of the second to make it a tight one-goal game in the third. But that’s when Tuukka Rask stepped up and stopped all seven shots that he faced including an Anthony Cirelli breakaway chance that registered as Tampa Bay's best chance to tie it. Erik Cernak also launched a point bomb right off the post midway through the period as Tampa Bay stormed Boston a bit, but the Lightning never broke through Boston’s defense or their No. 1 goaltender. That’s where the game as ultimately won after they built up a lead with a couple of goals in the first two periods.
HONORABLE MENTION: Brad Marchand didn’t know if he was going to play after suffering food poisoning from eating some bad salmon, but that didn’t end up stopping the left winger in the end. Marchand simply skipped the morning skate and then showed up to play 14 minutes while giving everything he had on the ice. That meant taking short shifts at times and being carried by his linemates at other times when they were on the ice, but Marchand came through and redirected a Torey Krug pass that bounced off his foot for Boston’s first goal at the end of the first period. Marchand finished with the goal and one shot on net in 14:26 of ice time, but managed to get the job done while pretty clearly playing at less than his usual level.
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BY THE NUMBERS: 9 – the number of points that the Bruins are now up in the Atlantic Division after the Lightning had pulled to within one point of them just a couple of weeks ago.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It was definitely an important game. I think both teams knew going into it that it was gonna be a good matchup, a fun one, a close game." –Torey Krug, on a win that pushes the Bruins' divisional lead up to nine points.