FINAL SCORE: Lightning 6, Bruins 3
IN BRIEF: In the final regular-season game, the Bruins rest plenty of regulars, give up a two-goal, first-period lead and fall 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who they may see in the second round of the playoffs. BOX SCORE
BRUINS RECORD: 49-24-9, second in Atlantic; will play Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of Stanley Cup playoffs.
HIGHLIGHTS:
KREJCI GETS CREDIT FOR B'S FIRST GOAL, ORIGINALLY GIVEN TO McAVOY:
HEINEN PUTS B'S UP, 2-0:
STAMKOS WITH A SHORT-HANDED GOAL TO TIE IT AT 2:
BOLTS GO UP 3-2:
KREJCI TIES HIS CAREER-HIGH IN ASSISTS:
FROM JOE HAGGERTY:
*Patrice Bergeron, Brandon Carlo, Torey Krug, Brad Marchand and Kevan Miller were among the Bruins regulars all getting the afternoon off during Game No. 82 ahead of the playoffs. A smart move by the Black and Gold with all of these players to skip a meaningless game against a Tampa Bay team they may see in the playoffs. For Miller, it was a precautionary move after it appeared that he dinged up his right knee in the win over Minnesota earlier this week, but he’s expected to practice with the rest of the team on Monday. For Carlo it’s not tempting fate as he suffered late-season injuries in each of the last two seasons that knocked him out for the entire playoffs, so the Bruins weren’t going to take chances with him this time.
Boston Bruins
*The second Bruins activation was Steve Kampfer jumping on Ryan Callahan at the offensive blue line, and causing a turnover that kept the puck in the offensive zone. The Bruins maintained possession after the aggressive pinch and eventually, Danton Heinen scored on a wrist shot snip from the high slot that went top corner. That’s goal No. 11 of the season for Heinen, who is going to finish with something in the neighborhood of 11 goals and 30-something points this season. Not terrible, but certainly a step down from last season. Similarly, Charlie McAvoy activated for the Bruins on their first goal of the game that was eventually swept into the net by David Krejci, and Matt Grzelcyk scored from the slot in the third period to round a strong offensive day for Boston’s D-men.
*Tuukka Rask did not look particularly sharp in this one. I’m not even sure why he started this game after he seemed to look pretty solid in his last start, but perhaps there was concern about not gathering too much rust ahead of the playoffs. A backhander given up to Nikita Kucherov early in the third period and a Braydon Coburn long-distance wrist shot from just inside the blue line that Tuukka Rask whiffed at with his glove hand were particularly bad. Rask ended up giving up five goals on 21 shots in the loss, and it wasn’t something that could really be considered a confidence-booster for Boston’s No. 1 goaltender.
UP NEXT:
Vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, first-round of Stanley Cup playoffs, TBA