FINAL SCORE: Bruins 4, Lightning 5
IN BRIEF: The Bruins held a two goal lead heading into the third, but couldn't hold off the Lightning and let up the game-winning goal with less than a minute left.
BRUINS RECORD: 46-21-9, 101 points, second in the Atlantic Division
HIGHLIGHTS:
CLIFTON LAYS OUT PALAT
STAMKOS SCORES ON THE ONE-TIMER TO PUT TAMPA UP IN THE FIRST
PASTRNAK DANLGES HIS WAY THROUGH THE D
MARCHAND TIES IT UP OFF THE ABSURD PASTRNAK DISH
STAMKOS NOTCHES A SECOND GOAL TO PUT THE LIGHTNING BACK AHEAD
ERNE SENDS MOORE HEADFIRST INTO THE BOARDS
COYLE SCORES OFF THE TURNOVER TO TIE IT UP
CARLO GIVES THE BRUINS THEIR FIRST LEAD OF THE NIGHT
MARCHAND EXTENDS THE LEAD WITH HIS SECOND GOAL
THE LIGHTNING TIE IT UP WITH SIX MINUTES LEFT
TUUKKA WITH THE INCREDIBLE SAVE
TAMPA TAKES THE LEAD WITH LESS THAN A MINUTE TO GO
FROM JOE HAGGERTY:
Adam Erne crushed John Moore from behind in the corner away from the boards in the first period, and Moore immediately skated off the ice gingerly after crashing into the boards. There was no penalty on a play where it looked like Erne hit him from behind. It sure looked like Moore was injured. The Lightning were once again attempting to physically dominate the Bruins, and decimate their D-corps depth, as they did last season during the playoffs. Moore never returned to the game with the upper body injured suffered during the contact, and the Bruins were forced to play with five defensemen for the bulk of the game. It’s a shame if Moore is seriously injured as the B’s were just starting to get healthy with Torey Krug, Matt Grzelcyk and Kevan Miller all expected to return this week.
Boston Bruins
Patrice Bergeron got the secondary helper on Brad Marchand’s power play goal in the first period, and that gives him a career-high 74 points on the season. It’s hats off to Bergeron doing all of that while missing time with injuries this season, and doing it in his mid-30’s as so many other players are really beginning to slow down at the NHL level. The greater frequency of injuries show that his game is beginning to decline ever so slightly with age, but you wouldn’t guess it by what he’s doing on the ice.
Four shots on net, eight shot attempts and two takeaways for Brad Marchand through two periods to go along with his two goals scored tonight. He’s brought his “A” game to a big game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and he was able to cancel out Steve Stamkos’ two first period goals with a couple of scored using his own goal-scoring prowess. It sure looks like No. 63 is also going to reach the 100 point mark (he’s currently sitting at 94 points) for the season for the first time in his career, and that would be quite an accomplishment for the Bruins agitator.
Charlie McAvoy on ice for all three goals in the third period as the Bruins cough up a two-goal lead entering the final 20 minutes, and instead lose a 5-4 game to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It sure looked like McAvoy and some of the other Bruins players were cheating a bit too much offensively, and not paying enough attention to the defensive details with a high-powered Tampa Bay team ready to pounce on them. McAvoy finished with a minus-2 and zero points in over 25 minutes of ice time in the loss to Tampa Bay.
UP NEXT:
Wednesday vs. Rangers, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
Saturday vs. Panthers, 1:00 p.m. (NESN)
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