Down the Frozen River

Tag: Brandon Carlo

  • 11 Bruins earn at least a point in, 6-1, rout of Flyers

    11 Bruins earn at least a point in, 6-1, rout of Flyers

    Boston Bruins captain, Patrice Bergeron, and teammate, Brad Marchand, each had two goals and three points in a, 6-1, win over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night at TD Garden.

    Two B’s earned their first career National Hockey League point, while another scored their first as a Bruin in the outburst of offense as Jaroslav Halak (1-0-0, 1.44 goals against average, .938 save percentage in two games played) made 16 saves on 17 shots faced for a .941 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Flyers goaltender, Carter Hart (2-2-1, 4.19 GAA, .880 SV% in five games played) stopped 20 out of 26 shots faced for a .769 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 3-1-1 (seven points) on the season and took command of 2nd place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, bumping Philadelphia (now 3-2-1, seven points) to 3rd place in the division.

    The Bruins also improved to 2-0-0 at home (two games) this season, while Claude Giroux took part in his 610th game as the captain of the Flyers– tying Bobby Clarke for the most games as captain in franchise history.

    Bruce Cassidy made a few changes to his Bruins lineup, swapping Anders Bjork with Trent Frederic– promoting Frederic to the third line and demoting Bjork to the fourth line in the process.

    On defense, Cassidy replaced Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) with Connor Clifton, who made his season debut alongside Brandon Carlo on the second pairing.

    Greg McKegg, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Dan Vladar and Karson Kuhlman all were healthy scratches and/or taxi squad members on Saturday night.

    Meanwhile, Ondrej Kase (upper body) missed his third game since being injured in New Jersey on Jan. 16th, David Pastrnak (hip) missed his fifth and has yet to make his season debut and Grzelcyk (lower body) missed his first game this season due to an injury in Thursday night’s, 5-4, shootout win over the Flyers.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Mark Friedman hooked Frederic and was assessed a minor infraction at 7:55 of the first period.

    It didn’t take Boston’s power play unit that long to find the back of the net as Bergeron (2) pounced on a rebound and slipped the puck past Hart to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead.

    Nick Ritchie (2) and David Krejci (4) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal at 8:09 of the first period.

    After one period of action Saturday night, the B’s led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 10-4, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2), takeaways (4-1) and hits (11-8), while Philadelphia led in giveaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (68-32).

    The Flyers had not yet seen any time on the skater advantage heading into the first intermission, while the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play.

    About a minute into the middle frame, the B’s had a great scoring chance that just didn’t pan out.

    Instead, Philadelphia emerged with a rush the opposite way, in which Jakub Voracek sent a shot pass from the boards to Kevin Hayes (3) for the tip-in past Halak.

    Hayes’ goal tied the game, 1-1, at 1:14 of the second period and was assisted by Voracek (6).

    But the game wouldn’t remain tied for long as Charlie Coyle got a backhand spin pass through the low slot to Craig Smith (1) as the Boston winger pounced on the puck and hit the twine while Hart was out of position.

    Smith’s goal– his first as a Bruin– was assisted by Coyle (1) and Jeremy Lauzon (1) at 2:30 of the second period– marking a span of 1:16 between Hayes’ tying goal and Smith’s eventual game-winning goal.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Voracek received a roughing minor and was sent to the penalty box at 7:28, but Boston’s power play wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Moments later, the Coyle tripped Giroux and cut a rut to the sin bin at 12:37, presenting a skater advantage to the Flyers.

    Philly was unsuccessful on the resulting power play, however.

    Late in the period, Frederic setup Coyle (2) for a one-handed deflection goal over Hart’s glove side and under the crossbar to give Boston their first two-goal lead of the season.

    Frederic (1) had the primary assist, while Smith (2) had the secondary assist on Coyle’s goal and the Bruins led, 3-1, at 17:50 of the second period.

    With an assist on the goal, Frederic officially registered his first point in the NHL.

    Entering the second intermission, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 16-12, in shots on goal, despite the Flyers holding an, 8-6, advantage in the second period alone.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (12-7), takeaways (8-4) and hits (22-13) through the first 40 minutes of action, while Philadelphia led in giveaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (58-43).

    The Flyers were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/2 on the power play after two periods.

    Marchand (2) kicked off the scoring in the final frame after initially sending a shot wide of the net before Jake DeBrusk kept the puck low in the attacking zone, whereby Bergeron scooped it up before passing it to Marchand for the close range one-timer past Hart.

    Bergeron (3) and DeBrusk (1) notched the helpers on Marchand’s first goal of the game and the Bruins extended their lead to, 4-1, at 4:13 of the third period.

    About a couple of minutes later, Friedman earned unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for some heated words and shoving aimed at Frederic after a stoppage in play and presented Boston with another power play at 6:54 of the third period.

    65 seconds later, the Bruins converted on the ensuing skater advantage when Marchand (3) fired a shot under Hart’s glove into the twine from the faceoff dot to the Philadelphia netminder’s left side.

    Ritchie (3) picked up his second assist of the night, while Jakub Zboril (1) earned the secondary assist, which was also the first point of his NHL career.

    Marchand’s second goal of the night gave the B’s a, 5-1, lead at 7:59 of the third period, while on the power play.

    Less than a minute later, Bjork hooked Michael Raffl and set the Flyers up with their last power play of the night.

    Philly’s power play was powerless as the Bruins made the kill.

    Later, James van Riemsdyk tripped Coyle at 13:17, presenting Boston with yet another skater advantage.

    This time, Bergeron (3) finished the night’s scoring with Boston’s third power-play goal on yet another rebound that the Bruins captain banked off of the Flyers goaltender and into the net.

    Marchand (4) and Charlie McAvoy (1) had the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal at 13:33 of the third period and the Bruins led, 6-1.

    At the sound of the final horn, Boston had won, 6-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 26-17, including a, 10-5, advantage in the final frame alone.

    The Bruins wrapped up Saturday night with the final advantage in blocked shots (14-10) and hits (26-24), while the Flyers ended the game leading in giveaways (6-4) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Philadelphia went 0/2 on the power play, while Boston notched a 3/4 success rate on the skater advantage in the 60-minute effort.

    With Bergeron wracking up another three-point night in his career, he became the 11th player in Bruins franchise history to record at least 50 games with three or more points.

    Phil Esposito has the club record for more games (140) with at least three or more points.

    Boston improved to 11-0-3 in their last 14 regular season home games against Philadelphia, which is also their longest active point streak at home against any opponent.

    The Bruins improved to 2-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal, 2-0-0 when leading after the first period and 2-0-0 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston continues their four-game homestand (2-0-0) with two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 26th and Jan. 28th before hitting the road down to D.C. on Jan. 30th and Feb. 1st, then Philadelphia on Feb. 3rd and Feb. 5th.

  • DeBrusk aims high in Boston’s, 5-4, shootout win over Flyers

    DeBrusk aims high in Boston’s, 5-4, shootout win over Flyers

    Jake DeBrusk dragged his foot before letting go of a chip shot over Carter Hart to give the Boston Bruins a, 5-4, shootout victory Thursday night at TD Garden.

    It was Boston’s home opener and second shootout win of the season– just their second shootout win since beating the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2, in a shootout victory on the road on Feb. 20, 2019, as the club went 0-7 last season in shootouts.

    Tuukka Rask (2-1-0, 2.23 goals against average, .892 save percentage in three games played) made 22 saves on 26 shots against for an .846 SV% in the shootout win.

    Hart (2-1-1, 3.66 GAA, .902 SV% in four games played) stopped 39 out of 43 shots faced for a .907 SV% in the shootout loss for Philadelphia.

    The Bruins improved to 2-1-1 (five points) on the season and jumped from 6th in the MassMutual NHL East Division to 5th place, while the Flyers fell to 3-1-1 (seven points) on the season and remained in command of the MassMutual NHL East Division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Monday’s, 1-0, loss to the Islanders in New York.

    As such, Greg McKegg, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar and Karson Kuhlman remained out of the lineup as taxi squad and healthy scratches.

    David Pastrnak missed his fourth game since undergoing a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on Sept. 16th, while Ondrej Kase missed his second game of the season due to an upper body injury sustained in New Jersey on Jan. 16th.

    Early in the opening frame, Claude Giroux tripped DeBrusk and presented Boston with the first power play of the night at 3:42 of the first period.

    The Bruins did not convert on the resulting skater advantage, however.

    A few minutes later, Sean Kuraly was penalized for holding Mark Friedman at 6:57, yielding the Flyers their first power play of the game.

    Philadelphia was also unsuccessful on their first skater advantage of the night.

    Late in the period, Nicolas Aube-Kubel slashed B’s defender, Kevan Miller, and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result at 18:13.

    Boston couldn’t muster anything on the power play as time winded down, expired and signaled the start of the first intermission.

    After 20 minutes of action, the game remained tied, 0-0, though the Bruins outshot the Flyers, 14-3.

    The B’s also had the advantage in blocked shots (4-3), takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win percentage (77-24), while the Flyers led in giveaways (4-1).

    Both teams had eight hits aside.

    Philadelphia was 0/1 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play entering the dressing room for the first intermission.

    David Krejci caught Nolan Patrick with a high stick and cut a rut to the sin bin at 4:45 of the second period.

    Late in the ensuing power play Giroux (1) fired a snap shot from the faceoff circle over Rask’s blocker on the short side while Patrick screened the Bruins goaltender to give the Flyers the first lead of the night.

    Ivan Provorov (1) had the only assist on Giroux’s power-play goal as Philadelphia took a, 1-0, lead at 6:17 of the second period.

    It was the first goal allowed by Boston’s penalty kill this season, ending their run of 14 consecutive successfully killed infractions.

    Miller was assessed a minor for holding six seconds after Philadelphia scored the game’s first goal. With Miller in the box at 6:23, the Bruins went back on the penalty kill.

    This time the Flyers weren’t able to capitalize on the skater advantage.

    Midway through the period, Friedman initiated a wrestling match with Brad Marchand in the open ice of the neutral zone before falling awkwardly, bleeding and exiting the game.

    No penalty was called as a result of a usual event when two players get near each other while going for a line change without realizing they were charted on a collision course that ultimately went wrong.

    Though Friedman did not return to the game, Flyers head coach, Alain Vigneault, noted that he was held out as a precaution and should be fine.

    Anders Bjork hooked Jakub Voracek at 15:24 of the second period and was assessed a minor penalty.

    In the vulnerable minute after special teams action, the Flyers caught the Bruins behind the play as Voracek sent a pass to James van Riemsdyk (2) that was promptly redirected from its sloppy off-speed original path to one that guided the puck to the back of the net from point blank.

    Voracek (3) and Kevin Hayes (4) tallied the assists as Philadelphia jumped out to a two-goal lead, 2-0, at 17:31.

    Through two periods of action, the Flyers led, 2-0, despite trailing the B’s in shots on goal, 18-11.

    Philadelphia held the advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone, 8-4, while both teams had eight blocked shots and six takeaways each.

    The Flyers led in giveaways (5-4), while Boston led in hits (17-15) and faceoff win% (62-38).

    Philly was 1/4 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Less than a minute into the final frame of regulation, Jack Studnicka (1) redirected a pass from Krejci off of Hart’s leg pad before gathering his own rebound and pocketing it in the twine while crashing the net.

    Krejci (2) and Nick Ritchie (1) notched the assists on Studnicka’s first career NHL goal 57 seconds into the third period and the Bruins cut Philadelphia’s lead in half, 2-1.

    It was also the first goal at 5-on-5 for Boston this season.

    A mere 69 seconds later, Charlie Coyle (1) spun and fired home a rebound from inside the faceoff dot to the right of the Flyers netminder– tying the game, 2-2, in the process.

    Craig Smith (1) recorded his first point as a Bruin with the primary assist, while Miller (1) tallied his first point in almost two years with the secondary helper on Coyle’s goal at 2:06 of the third period.

    The game didn’t remain even for long as Voracek fired an intentional shot off of Travis Sanheim’s (1) skate past Rask to give Philly the lead once again, 3-2, at 7:13.

    Voracek (4) and Patrick (3) had the assists on Sanheim’s goal.

    Moments later, Scott Laughton cross checked Jakub Zboril at 13:04 of the third period and presented Boston with another power play opportunity.

    It didn’t take long for Patrice Bergeron to find Ritchie (2) wide open in the low slot, banking a shot off of Hart’s glove and into the open net behind the Flyers goaltender.

    Bergeron (2) and Krejci (3) had the assists on Ritchie’s power-play goal as the Bruins pulled even, 3-3, at 13:22.

    Less than two minutes later, Brandon Carlo (1) rocketed a slap shot from the point under the crossbar to give Boston their first lead of the night, 4-3, at 15:18 of the third period.

    Matt Grzelcyk (2) and Marchand (3) notched the assists on Carlo’s goal, but despite taking their first lead of the night, the B’s didn’t hold onto it for long.

    Kuraly delivered a cross check on Giroux and was assessed a penalty at 15:24.

    van Riemsdyk (3) went unchecked by Charlie McAvoy and Carlo before connecting on a power-play goal from in front of the net to tie the game, 4-4.

    Voracek (5) and Hayes (5) each picked up another assist while the Flyers knotted the game up with another power-play goal at 16:28.

    Boston led for all of 70 seconds in regulation.

    With 20.4 seconds left in the third period, Vigneault used his timeout, but the Flyers weren’t successful in the execution of whatever plan they drew up to win the game in the dying seconds.

    Overtime was necessary for the third time this season for the Bruins and for the first time for the Flyers.

    After 60 minutes, with Boston leading in shots on goal, 40-21, including a, 22-10, advantage in the third period alone, the game remained tied, 4-4.

    Philadelphia led in blocked shots (13-8), takeaways (9-7) and giveaways (8-5), while the Bruins held the advantage in hits (24-19) and faceoff win% (61-39) going into overtime.

    As no penalties were called in the extra frame, the Flyers finished Thursday night 2/5 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    Vigneault started Giroux, Laughton and Provorov in overtime, while Cassidy countered with Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy.

    In the end, Boston mustered just three shots on goal in the five minutes of 3-on-3 action, while Rask stood tall– denying Hayes on a one-timer with an aerial leg pad save.

    After overtime, the score remained, 4-4, while Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-26, despite trailing, 5-3, in shots in OT.

    Philadelphia finished the night leading in blocked shots (15-9) and giveaways (8-5), while the Bruins wrapped up Thursday’s action leading in hits (24-21) and faceoff win% (63-37).

    A shootout was necessary to determine a winner and Cassidy opted for his team to shoot first.

    He sent out Smith to get things going for Boston, but Smith’s shot was stopped by Hart as he tried to sneak one in through the five-hole.

    Voracek was Vigneault’s first round response, but despite his off-speed approach, Rask stoned him cold with a pad save on Voracek’s backhand shot.

    Coyle kicked things off in round two of the shootout with a shot wide on Hart’s glove side.

    Travis Konecny answered back with a shot that grazed Rask’s glove and also went wide.

    Finally, DeBrusk hit the back of the net with a chip shot over Hart’s blocker side after a nifty toe-drag approach to give the Bruins a, 1-0, advantage in the shootout.

    All that was left was for Rask to make a save and Boston would win.

    Vigneault sent out Giroux.

    Giroux waltzed his way into the attacking zone for his attempt, feigned a slap shot, slowed up and went for Rask’s glove side, but the Bruins goaltender denied him with a save.

    Boston emerged victorious with the, 5-4, shootout win.

    The B’s improved to 2-0 in shootouts this season and 2-1 past regulation overall, while the Flyers fell to 0-1 in both categories.

    Boston also improved to 1-1-0 when tied after the first period, 1-0-0 when trailing after two periods and 1-1-1 when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    The Bruins began their four-game homestand with a, 5-4, shootout victory against Philadelphia on Thursday and will host the Flyers again on Saturday before hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 26th and Jan. 28th.

  • Marchand helps Bruins beat Devils, 3-2, in shootout victory

    Marchand helps Bruins beat Devils, 3-2, in shootout victory

    The Boston Bruins kicked off the 2020-21 regular season with a, 3-2, shootout win against New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday night.

    Tuukka Rask (1-0-0, 1.85 goals against average, .909 save percentage in one game played, one start) made 20 saves on 22 shots faced in the shootout win for the Bruins.

    Mackenzie Blackwood (0-0-1, 1.85 goals against average, .946 save percentage in one game played, one start) turned aside 35 out of 37 shots against in the shootout loss for the Devils.

    Boston improved to 1-0-0 (two points) on the season, while New Jersey fell to 0-0-1 (one point) on the season.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, improved to 162-66-34 in 262 games with Boston.

    Devils head coach, Lindy Ruff, kicked off his new gig with a shootout loss as both teams will face each other seven more times this season in the temporarily realigned MassMutual NHL East Division for the 2020-21 season.

    For the first time in franchise history (97 seasons), the Bruins will not face the Montreal Canadiens at all in the regular season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting temporary division realignment with the United States’ border with Canada currently closed.

    Prior to Thursday night’s action in New Jersey, Patrice Bergeron was named the 20th captain in franchise history on Jan. 6th, replacing Zdeno Chara, who served as the club’s captain from 2006-20, before departing for the Washington Capitals in free agency on Dec. 30, 2020.

    David Krejci and Brad Marchand will serve as alternate captains for Boston this season.

    Krejci has been an alternate captain since the 2013-14 season, while Marchand has worn an “A” on his jersey off-and-on since the 2018-19 season.

    As a result of the ongoing global pandemic, teams are allowed to carry extra players on a “taxi squad” that will not count against their daily salary cap limit.

    The Bruins have not announced who they will utilize on their “taxi squad” this season, but Trent Frederic, Urho Vaakanainen, Jack Studnicka, Dan Vladar and Greg McKegg all made the trip to New Jersey with the team.

    David Pastrnak (hip surgery in the offseason) was out of the lineup against the Devils Thursday night, but is expected to return to play ahead of schedule since his original prognosis when he underwent a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on Sept. 16th.

    Craig Smith (lower body injury) missed Thursday night’s action and is yet to make his B’s debut since signing a three-year contract worth $3.100 million per season on Oct. 10th.

    Cassidy made a few adjustments to his lines as a result of the injuries and free agency departures in the offseason.

    The first line consisted of Marchand at left wing, Bergeron at center and Studnicka on right wing.

    Rounding out the top-six forwards on the second line were Ondrej Kase, David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk.

    Charlie Coyle centered the third line with Nick Ritchie at his left side and Anders Bjork on his right side, while Sean Kuraly centered the fourth line with Frederic and Chris Wagner as his wings.

    On defense, Cassidy started Matt Grzelcyk and Kevan Miller– honoring Miller in his first game back in 651 days since multiple knee injuries dating back to April 2019.

    Jeremy Lauzon was paired with Charlie McAvoy and Jakub Zboril was partnered with Brandon Carlo.

    Karson Kuhlman remains in COVID protocol, while Par Lindholm, John Moore and Connor Clifton were healthy scratches. Smith and Pastrnak were out of the lineup due to their injuries.

    Early in the opening frame, Jesper Boqvist slashed Frederic and presented the Bruins with their first power play opportunity of the night at 6:14 of the first period.

    Boston’s skater advantage didn’t last long as Grzelcyk caught Yegor Sharangovich with a slash at 7:16.

    After an abbreviated period of 4-on-4 action followed by a short New Jersey power play, neither team could muster anything on the scoresheet.

    McAvoy laid out Sharangovich with a crushing hit at 13:19, but was too far from the puck and assessed a minor infraction for interference.

    The Devils were not successful on the ensuing power play, however.

    Late in the first frame, Miles Wood collided with Rask and cut a rut to the box with a goaltender interference infraction at 17:02.

    Boston didn’t waste much time getting to work on the resulting power play as Marchand (1) one-timed a redirection past Blackwood from just outside the crease to give the Bruins the first lead of the night, 1-0.

    Krejci (1) and Bergeron (1) notched the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal at 17:40 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins were dominating in possession, on the scoreboard, 1-0, and in shots on goal, 16-4.

    The B’s also held the advantage in faceoff win percentage, 67-33.

    New Jersey, meanwhile, led in blocked shots (7-3), giveaways (8-2) and hits (12-5), while both teams had one takeaway each in the first 20 minutes of game action.

    The Devils were 0/2 and the Bruins were 1/2 on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Kuraly tripped Sharangovich at 2:41 of the second period and presented New Jersey with an early skater advantage in the period, but Boston’s penalty kill remained strong.

    McAvoy was guilty of hooking Janne Kuokkanen at 7:56, but once again New Jersey’s power play couldn’t score.

    Midway through the game, the Devils committed a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice at 10:53.

    Newcomer, Andreas Johnsson, (acquired in the offseason via a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs) served the penalty while Boston’s power play went powerless.

    Through 40 minutes of play on Thursday, the Bruins held onto the, 1-0, lead and led in shots on goal, 26-11– including a, 10-7, advantage in the second period alone.

    New Jersey led in blocked shots (10-6), takeaways (6-2), giveaways (16-4) and hits (20-8), while Boston led in faceoff win% (63-37) after two periods.

    The Devils were 0/4 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/3 entering the dressing room for the second intermission.

    Kuokkanen was penalized for holding Kuraly and yielded another power play to Boston at 6:18 of the third period.

    Shortly after killing off the infraction, Wood (1) broke free from the Bruins’ defense and snapped a shot over Rask’s blocker side to tie the game, 1-1, at 8:51 of the final frame of regulation.

    Jack Hughes (1) had the only assist on Wood’s goal.

    Moments later, Krejci hooked Travis Zajac and was sent to the sin bin at 10:14, but New Jersey’s power play didn’t last long as Wood ran into Rask again and picked up another goaltender interference infraction at 11:13.

    The two clubs had about a minute of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play followed for the Bruins.

    Ritchie (1) scored a close range goal similar to Marchand’s to put the B’s back on top, 2-1, with a power-play goal of his own.

    Marchand (1) and Grzelcyk (1) tallied the assists on Ritchie’s goal at 13:12, but Boston didn’t hold the lead for long as they surrendered a wacky goal 34 seconds later.

    Ty Smith (1) scored his first career National Hockey League goal as the last Devils player to touch the puck before it bounced off of McAvoy, then Lauzon, Lauzon’s stick, McAvoy again and finally floated over Rask and into the twine.

    The fluke goal tied the game, 2-2, and was assisted by Matt Tennyson (1) and Hughes (2) at 13:46 of the third period.

    At the end of regulation, the score remained even, despite Boston outshooting the Devils, 35-18.

    The Bruins had a, 9-7, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone, while New Jersey led in blocked shots (13-6), takeaways (11-3), giveaways (19-6) and hits (26-13) after regulation.

    Boston led in faceoff win%, 58-42, entering overtime.

    As no penalties were called in the extra frame, the Bruins finished the night 2/5 on the power play, while the Devils went 0/5 on the skater advantage.

    The two teams swapped chances in overtime– including a couple of heart-stopping moments where the Devils nearly completed the comeback, but neither side could seal the deal on an overtime win.

    Despite Cassidy’s best efforts starting Coyle, DeBrusk and McAvoy in overtime, as well as Ruff’s lineup of Hughes, Kyle Palmieri and P.K. Subban in 3-on-3 OT, a shootout was necessary.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 37-22, despite being outshot, 4-2, in overtime alone.

    New Jersey finished Thursday’s effort leading in blocked shots (14-7), giveaways (19-6) and hits (26-13), while the Bruins settled for the final advantage in faceoff win% (57-43).

    The Devils elected to shoot first in the shootout and sent Nikita Gusev out to get the job in round one, but Rask stoned him cold as Gusev attempted to go five-hole on the veteran netminder.

    Coyle was denied by Blackwood with a pad save as the Bruins forward tried to pull the New Jersey goaltender out of position.

    Boqvist was stopped by Rask in a routine save while Kase couldn’t sneak one past Blackwood’s blocker side in the second round of the shootout.

    After Hughes lost the puck while attempting to dangle his way into the low slot, Cassidy sent Marchand to try to get the win for Boston.

    Marchand came through for his coach and the rest of the Bruins with an off-tempo shot through Blackwood’s five-hole after getting the New Jersey goaltender to commit to his fake handiwork before taking the shot.

    The Bruins won the shootout, 1-0, after three rounds and clinched the, 3-2, shootout victory over the Devils to start the 2020-21 season.

    It was Boston’s first shootout win since Feb. 20, 2019, when the B’s downed the Vegas Golden Knights on the road in what was also a, 3-2, shootout victory.

    With the win, the Bruins improved to 1-0-0 when leading after the first period, 1-0-0 when leading after the second period, 1-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal and 1-0 in shootouts (1-0 past regulation) this season.

    Boston continues their three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon with a rematch against the Devils in New Jersey at 1 p.m. ET before heading to Nassau Coliseum on Monday (Jan. 18th) for a game with the New York Islanders.

    The Bruins return to Boston for their home opener at TD Garden on Jan. 21st against the Philadelphia Flyers.

    There will be no fans in attendance in Boston due to COVID-19 restrictions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

  • Bolts advance to the Eastern Conference Final with, 3-2, 2OT win over Bruins in Game 5

    Victor Hedman scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to catapult the Tampa Bay Lightning into the 2020 Eastern Conference Final with a, 3-2, victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their Second Round series.

    Tampa emerged victorious in the series, 4-1, while Boston is heading home from the Scotiabank Arena bubble in Toronto empty handed.

    For the first time since 2018, the Lightning are back in the Eastern Conference Final, which, coincidentally also featured a five-game series win against the Bruins in the Second Round to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

    With the series win on Monday, Tampa improved to 2-1 in all-time postseason series meetings against Boston.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (9-4 in 13 games this postseason, 1.91 goals against average, .931 save percentage) made 45 saves on 47 shots against for a .957 SV% in the win for the Bolts.

    Meanwhile, Jaroslav Halak (4-5 in nine games this postseason, 2.76 GAA, .902 SV%) stopped 32 out of 35 shots faced for a .914 SV% in the loss for the Bruins.

    Bruce Cassidy made a few necessary adjustments to his lineup with Sean Kuraly, Nick Ritchie and Chris Wagner out due to injury (officially, “unfit to participate”).

    With Kuraly missing his third game of the series, Par Lindholm remained as the fourth line center with Karson Kuhlman taking Wagner’s spot at right wing while Joakim Nordstrom remained on the left side.

    Jack Studnicka was back in the lineup and took over Kuhlman’s spot on the right side of the third line with Anders Bjork also back in action on the left side of Charlie Coyle.

    Kuraly, Ritchie and Wagner were all “unfit to participate”, while Boston’s list of scratches also included Zach Senyshyn, John Moore, Maxime Lagacé, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jeremy Lauzon and Trent Frederic.

    Jon Cooper made one change to Tampa’s lineup for Game 5, re-inserting Ryan McDonagh on the blue line after the defender had been out since Game 1 with an injury.

    As a result, Braydon Coburn joined Mathieu Joseph, Carter Verhaeghe, Jan Rutta, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood among the Lightning’s scratches on Monday.

    David Krejci tied Wayne Cashman for the fourth most postseason games played in a Bruins uniform with 145.

    Meanwhile, Cassidy now holds a 27-28 (.491 winning percentage) record in the postseason behind the bench with Boston.

    He is 29-32 overall as an NHL head coach in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Cassidy was the head coach of the Washington Capitals for parts of two seasons from 2002-04, leading Washington to a 2-4 record in six postseason games outside his tenure with the Bruins).

    2020 marks the sixth appearance (previous, 2004, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018) in the Eastern Conference Final for the Lightning since their first season in the NHL in 1992-93.

    As a fun fact, Tampa spent their first season in the Campbell Conference (what is now known as the Western Conference) before moving to the Eastern Conference for the 1993-94 season and beyond.

    Midway through the opening frame Nikita Kucherov tried to sneak behind Zdeno Chara while skating through the low slot in front of the net before the two collided without Chara knowing the Lightning forward was there, thereby lending both players to lose their balance.

    In the process, the Bruins captain caught Kucherov with a high stick, while an errant puck hit Chara in the leg/skate as an unintentional blocked shot that left both players falling to the ice– Kucherov for the stick to the face, Chara for the shot to the leg/foot.

    Chara was sent to the box with a double-minor for high sticking at 12:48 of the first period and despite having a four-minute power play, the Lightning weren’t able to score on the skater advantage.

    Late in the period, Barclay Goodrow got a stick around David Pastrnak and hooked the Bruins forward, yielding a power play to Boston in the closing minutes of the opening frame at 17:46, but the B’s didn’t convert on the advantage.

    The game was still tied, 0-0, after one period despite the Bruins holding an advantage in shots on goal, 8-5.

    Boston also held the lead in blocked shots (10-4), while Tampa led in hits (14-10) and faceoff win percentage (59-41) heading into the first intermission.

    Both teams had two takeaways and two giveaways aside, while the Lightning were 0/2 and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Early in the middle frame, Ondrej Palat (5) redirected a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk over Halak’s shoulder on the glove side, off the bar and into the twine to give Tampa the, 1-0, lead, while tying the longest postseason goal scoring streak in Lightning franchise history as Palat has scored at least one goal in the last four games.

    Palat (2020), Stamkos (2015 and 2018), Vincent Lecavalier (2007) and Martin St. Louis (2003) are all tied for the team record with goals in at least four-straight playoff games for the Bolts.

    Meanwhile, Shattenkirk (4) and Blake Coleman (4) had the assists on Palat’s goal at 4:21 of the second period.

    Midway through the period, Kucherov tripped Charlie McAvoy and was sent to the box at 10:44, presenting Boston with their second power play of the night.

    Krejci sent a pass to Pastrnak (3) for the one-timer from the dot to Vasilevskiy’s right side– beating the Bolts goaltender on the blocker side and tying the game, 1-1, with a power-play goal at 12:38 of the second period.

    Krejci (8) and Patrice Bergeron (6) yielded the assists while Pastrnak recorded his 20th career postseason goal in his 52nd career Stanley Cup Playoff game.

    Only three players in Bruins history required fewer games to reach 20 goals in the playoffs– Barry Pederson (24 games), Gregg Sheppard (32) and Bobby Orr (50)– while Pastrnak has 20-33–53 totals in 52 games.

    About four minutes later, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Goodrow at 16:13 and the Lightning went on the power play for the third time Monday night.

    Tampa’s skater advantage was cut short when Yanni Gourde hooked McAvoy at 16:56 and presented each team with a 1:17 span of 4-on-4 action before the Bruins had a brief 5-on-4 power play afterwards.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the B’s and Bolts were tied, 1-1, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 23-13– including a, 15-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bruins also held the lead in takeaways (3-2), while the Lightning led in blocked shots (16-12), giveaways (7-6), hits (29-22) and faceoff win% (54-46) heading into the second intermission.

    Tampa was 0/3 and Boston was 1/3 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Kucherov wasn’t available for the Bolts in the third period onward while an undisclosed injury kept him out for the rest of the night.

    Meanwhile, Cedric Paquette ran McAvoy from behind into the boards– worthy of at least a minor for boarding, given the standards defined in the series, but instead received no penalty whatsoever while McAvoy needed assistance from a trainer and a teammate before returning late in the third period.

    Midway through the final frame of regulation, Hedman sent a shot with eyes from the point that was redirected by Anthony Cirelli (2) off of Halak’s blocker and stick before it found the twine to give Tampa the, 2-1, lead at 12:03 of the third period.

    Hedman (4) and Brayden Point (11) tallied the assists on Cirelli’s goal as the Lightning grabbed the lead once more and settled into their game for a few minutes.

    McAvoy returned to Boston’s bench with 4:20 left in the third period, then the team rallied to tie the game, 2-2, at 17:27 of the third when Krejci (4) guided the puck into the open twine while Vasilevksiy was behind the play after Chara faked the goaltender and sent a pass to Krejci on the doorstep instead.

    Chara (2) and Connor Clifton (2) collected the assists on Krejci’s game-tying goal and the B’s yanked enough momentum to carry themselves into overtime while earning a power play when Hedman tripped Ondrej Kase at 18:04.

    After 60 minutes of action, the Bruins and Lightning were tied, 2-2, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 35-21– including a, 12-8, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston also led in takeaways (3-2) and giveaways (11-9), while Tampa led in blocked shots (24-20), hits (40-34) and faceoff win% (59-41).

    The Lightning were 0/3 and the Bruins were 1/4 on the power play heading into the first overtime period.

    Cassidy opted to start Brad Marchand, Bergeron and Kase as his forwards, while sending out Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo on defense.

    Cooper kicked things off in overtime with Coleman, Goodrow, Erik Cernak and McDonagh on the penalty kill before Hedman returned from the box and the Lightning could make a line change.

    Midway through the first overtime period, Krejci tripped up Alex Killorn and was sent to the box at 10:27, but Tampa wasn’t able to capitalize on the power play in sudden death overtime.

    Through 80 minutes of hockey on Monday night, the Bruins led in shots on goal, 46-28, despite the score remaining even at, 2-2, entering the second overtime.

    Boston held the, 11-7, advantage in shots on goal in the first overtime period alone, while also leading in giveaways (15-11) entering the fourth intermission.

    Tampa led in blocked shots (30-29), takeaways (5-3), hits (50-46) and faceoff win% (59-41) heading into the second overtime.

    With no penalties called in the second overtime, the Bolts finished 0/4 and the B’s finished 1/4 on the power play on Monday.

    Cassidy began the second overtime with Marchand, Bergeron, Kase, Clifton and Grzlecyk, while Cooper matched with Goodrow, Gourde, Coleman, Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev.

    Both teams went back and forth until the ice was scrapped during a stoppage with 9:51 remaining in double overtime.

    Moments later, Hedman (5) slipped a shot through Halak while Pat Maroon acted as a screen in front of the Boston netminder and sent the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final while eliminating the Bruins with the, 3-2, game-winning goal at 14:10 of the double-overtime period.

    Shattenkirk (5) and Point (12) tabbed the assists on the game-winning goal as the Bolts wrapped up the series.

    Boston finished Monday night’s action leading in shots on goal, 47-35, despite trailing Tampa, 7-1, in shots on net in the second overtime period alone.

    Tampa finished the night leading in blocked shots (35-34), hits (56-53) and faceoff win% (60-40), while Boston wrapped up the night leading in giveaways (21-12) in addition to their advantage in shots on goal.

    With the win, the Lightning improved to 4-0 in overtime (5-0 past regulation this postseason– they went 1-0 in shootouts in the Round Robin), while the Bruins fell to 1-2 in overtime as they were ousted from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Tampa improved to 20-8, while Boston fell to 59-77-3 in all-time overtime postseason games.

    The Bruins also fell to 2-3 when tied after one period, 1-3 when tied after two periods and 1-2 when tied after three periods in the 2020 postseason.

    While Tampa moves on and will likely travel to Edmonton to play in the Eastern Conference Final (though there is a plan to begin the series in Toronto if the Western Conference’s Second Round matchups take too long and/or the Lightning cannot travel to Rogers Place just yet), Boston will leave the Toronto bubble and disperse for the 2020 offseason with the future uncertain.

    Chara is 43-years-old and may retire, Krug is a pending-unrestricted free agent looking for a big payday as a 29-year-old defender in his prime, while Jake DeBrusk and Grzelcyk are pending-restricted free agents.

    Additionally, Nordstrom is a pending-UFA who may or may not be back due to Boston’s plethora of bottom-six talent, while Kevan Miller will likely be riding into the sunset after not playing since May 2019 due to multiple knee injuries that kept him out of 2019-20 action.

  • Lightning strike three times in Game 4, Bruins on verge of being eliminated

    For the first time since 2018, the Tampa Bay Lightning are on the doorstep of making an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final after beating the Boston Bruins, 3-1, on Saturday in Game 4 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round series.

    The Lightning hold a, 3-1, series lead heading into Game 5 from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday and can eliminate the Bruins with a win.

    The last time Tampa made the Eastern Conference Final, they beat Boston in five games to get there. History repeats itself.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (9-3 in 12 games this postseason, 1.98 goals against average, .927 save percentage) made 29 saves on 30 shots against for a .967 SV% in the win for the Bolts.

    B’s netminder, Jaroslav Halak (4-4 in eight games this postseason, 2.94 GAA, .900 SV%) stopped 23 out of 26 shots faced for an .885 SV% in the loss.

    After Wednesday’s, 7-1, loss in Game 3, Bruce Cassidy made a few changes to his lineup for Saturday’s Game 4.

    First, Cassidy went back to dressing 12 forwards and six defenders, then he re-inserted Karson Kuhlman and Connor Clifton into the lineup while taking Jeremy Lauzon and John Moore back out of the lineup.

    Kuhlman took the right side of the third line with Charlie Coyle at center and Nick Ritchie on the left wing, while Clifton resumed his role on the third defensive pairing with Matt Grzelcyk.

    Sean Kuraly (unfit to participate) was still out of the lineup on Saturday with an injury.

    Boston’s long list of scratches included Anders Bjork, Zach Senyshyn, Moore, Maxime Lagacé, Kuraly, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Lauzon and Trent Frederic.

    Jon Cooper kept his lineup the same for the Lightning, so once again Tampa’s scratches included Mathieu Joseph, Carter Verhaeghe, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Mitchell Stevens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood.

    Midway through the opening frame, Chris Wagner turned the puck over in the neutral zone, which led to an entry into the attacking zone for Brayden Point whereby the Lightning worked the puck deep.

    Torey Krug made a great effort to breakup an initial scoring chance, but then the rest of his teammates were caught looking on as Ondrej Palat (3) snuck into the slot for a one-timer over Halak’s blocker, off the crossbar and in to give Tampa a, 1-0, lead at 8:59 of the first period.

    Point (10) had the only assist on Palat’s goal as Palat extended his goal scoring streak to three games and is now one game shy of matching the longest goal streak in Lightning postseason history.

    Stamkos (2015 and 2018), Vincent Lecavalier (2007) and Martin St. Louis (2003) hold the record with a four-game goal scoring streak in the playoffs for the Bolts.

    A few minutes later, Brandon Carlo slashed Nikita Kucherov and was assessed a minor infraction at 11:44, yielding the game’s first power play to the Lightning.

    Boston killed Carlo’s minor with ease and resumed 5-on-5 action until Cedric Paquette hit Kuhlman along the boards and Ritchie took exception to it– dropping the gloves, grabbing Paquette and delivering a few jabs while Paquette would not budge to defend himself.

    Though a minor for boarding could have been called in the eyes of the Bruin, none of the refs’ arms were in the air for a delayed call and, instead, Ritchie was the only player on the way to the box for roughing.

    The Lightning didn’t bring the thunder on the ensuing power play, however.

    As the opening frame came to a close, David Pastrnak fought hard for a loose puck until the horn sounded and the period was over, which led to Erik Cernak promptly responding and picking up a two-minute minor for roughing at 20:00 of the first period.

    Through one period in Saturday’s action, Tampa held onto a, 1-0, lead on the scoreboard, despite being outshot by Boston, 9-8.

    The Bolts had the advantage in blocked shots (3-2), takeaways (2-0) and giveaways (5-4), while the B’s led in hits (21-17) and faceoff win percentage (69-31).

    Tampa was 0/2 on the power play heading into the first intermission. Boston had yet to see any time on the skater advantage entering the middle frame.

    Clifton cross checked Blake Coleman and was sent to the box to kick things off in the middle frame at 5:46 of the second period.

    The Lightning did not score on the ensuing power play, however.

    A little past the halfway point, though, the Bolts extended their lead when Palat (4) fired a one-timer that caught a piece of Halak’s glove and floated behind the Bruins goaltender.

    Anthony Cirelli (3) and Kucherov (11) had the assists on Palat’s second goal of the game and Tampa led, 2-0, at 12:29 of the second period.

    About a minute later, Ritchie hit Gourde from behind and received a five-minute major for boarding at 13:32, while Gourde took some time to get up off the ice and get his bearings.

    Late in the ensuing skater advantage, Victor Hedman (4) sent a shot that deflected off of Par Lindholm while the Bruins forward was trying to block the shot, then took a wacky bounce up in the air and apexed over Halak’s blocker side before landing in the net.

    Tyler Johnson (3) and Kucherov (12) tallied the assists on Hedman’s goal and the Lightning led, 3-0, at 18:04 of the second period.

    Just 59 seconds later, Zach Bogosian was penalized for holding the stick and sent to the box at 19:03, but even with the skater advantage bleeding over into the final frame of regulation, Boston was powerless on the power play thus far in the action.

    Through 40 minutes of play on Saturday afternoon, Tampa led Boston, 3-0, on the scoreboard and, 20-19, in shots on goal– including a, 12-10, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bolts held the lead in blocked shots (12-6) and takeaways (5-2), while the B’s led in hits (34-30) and faceoff win% (70-30).

    Both teams had seven giveaways aside.

    Entering the second intermission, Tampa was 1/5 on the power play, while Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    Coleman hooked Pastrnak 54 seconds into the third period and presented Boston with a 5-on-3 advantage for 10 seconds before returning to a regular 5-on-4 advantage for the remainder of Coleman’s minor infraction.

    The Bruins came up empty on both advantages.

    Moments later, Ritchie and Barclay Goodrow exchanged fisticuffs in what was the third fight of the postseason for Boston (all against Tampa, including one in the Round Robin) at 4:01 of the third period.

    A minute later, Luke Schenn hooked Pastrnak at 5:05.

    In the dying seconds of the power play, Jake DeBrusk (4) slipped a shot through Vasilevskiy’s five-hole while Ondrej Kase acted as a screen in front of the Tampa Bay netminder to disrupt the shutout.

    Coyle (2) and Grzelcyk (1) were credited with the assists on DeBrusk’s power-play goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-1, at 7:04 of the third period.

    It was the last event on the scoresheet for the afternoon– save for Boston’s timeout during a stoppage with 1:23 remaining in the game after pulling Halak for an extra attacker with about 2:13 to go.

    The Bruins couldn’t muster a pair of goals and the Lightning were unsuccessful at scoring on the empty net, but Tampa emerged victorious, regardless, at the sound of the final horn.

    The Lightning had won, 3-1, and taken a, 3-1, series lead while finishing Saturday’s Game 4 effort with the advantage in blocked shots (16-13), hits (45-38) and giveaways (11-10).

    Boston, despite finishing the afternoon for the first time in the series leading in the final total shots on goal, 30-26, faces being eliminated in Game 5 on Monday.

    The Bruins also finished Saturday’s effort leading in faceoff win% (65-35) and went 1/4 on the power play, while the Bolts were 1/5 on the skater advantage.

    Tampa is, 6-0, all time when leading a series, 3-1. Teams with a, 3-1, series lead are 284-29 all time in the best of seven format in NHL history.

    With the loss, the Bruins fell to 2-4 when trailing after one and 1-5 when trailing after two periods in the 2020 postseason.

    Fans in the United States can catch Monday’s Game 5 on NBCSN at 7 p.m. ET, while those in Canada can tune to CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Lightning rout Bruins, 7-1, in Game 3, lead series, 2-1

    In a game that is ultimately meaningless, the Tampa Bay Lightning crushed the Boston Bruins, 7-1, in Game 3 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

    Prior to the game, while most other professional sports leagues witnessed their players go on strike against police brutality and systemic racism, the NHL had a “moment of reflection” and completely missed the mark– but what else is there to really expect from a sport that took 60 years from the time Willie O’Ree broke the game’s color barrier in 1958, until his election to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018?

    Teams and players made statements intent to “learn and grow” in the aftermath of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and many of those teams and players haven’t learned a thing.

    You either make a whole hearted attempt (and struggle at times as learning can be a process) or you don’t make one at all and remain ignorant because ignorance is not bliss– it’s ignorance.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (8-3 in 11 games this postseason, 2.06 goals against average, .924 save percentage) made 23 saves on 24 shots against for a .958 SV% in the win for the Lightning.

    Bruins netminder, Jaroslav Halak (4-3 in seven games this postseason, 2.92 GAA, .903 SV%) stopped 12 out of 16 shots faced for a .750 SV% in 31:18 time on ice in the loss before being replaced by Dan Vladar (0-0 in one game this postseason, 6.21 GAA, .800 SV%), who made 12 saves on 15 shots in 28:42 TOI.

    The 23-year-old native of Czech Republic, Vladar made his NHL debut and became the first goalie to make his league debut in the playoffs since Jake Allen did so with the St. Louis Blues on April 30, 2012.

    Vladar was also the first goaltender in B’s franchise history to make his NHL debut in the postseason.

    With the win on Wednesday, Tampa takes a, 2-1, series lead heading into Game 4 on Friday.

    With Sean Kuraly “unfit to participate” and seven defenders announced as part of Boston’s game plan ahead of the action on Wednesday, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggled his lines with his top-six serving in their usual capacity, while working Nick Ritchie and Charlie Coyle with a rotation of possible right wing options on the third line as Par Lindholm slotted into the fourth line center role for Kuraly.

    On defense, Jeremy Lauzon and John Moore joined the fray for Boston, splitting time with the usual defenders in Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk.

    Anders Bjork and Connor Clifton joined the long list of scratches for the Bruins, which included Zach Senyshyn, Maxime Lagacé, Kuraly, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman on Wednesday.

    The Bolts rolled forward with seven defenders for the second game in-a-row, while Jon Cooper’s list of scratches included Mathieu Joseph, Carter Verhaeghe, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood.

    McDonagh (unfit to play) missed his second game of the series with an undisclosed injury.

    Carlo tripped Alex Killorn and was sent to the penalty box at 37 seconds into the first period, yielding the first power play of the game to the Lightning.

    Tampa didn’t score on their first skater advantage, however, but it wouldn’t take them long before they got their special teams going.

    At 12:17 of the first period, Ritchie slashed Kevin Shattenkirk and cut a rut to the sin bin.

    The Bolts made sure to take advantage of the skater advantage the second time, however, as Ondrej Palat (2) sent a one-timer that deflected off of Chara’s stick and went past Halak’s glove side to give Tampa their first power-play goal of the postseason.

    Mikhail Sergachev (2) and Nikita Kucherov (8) had the assists as the Lightning jumped out to the, 1-0, lead at 12:46 of the first period.

    Prior to Palat’s power-play goal, the Bolts were 0/16 on the power play in the 2020 postseason.

    Yanni Gourde (3) made it a, 2-0, lead 15 seconds after Palat opened the game’s scoring when he was able to break in free of any Bruins defenders, held onto the puck long enough for Halak to commit, then roofed it into the twine while Lauzon was inadvertently held up by an on-ice official near the blue line.

    Blake Coleman (3) and Erik Cernak (2) tabbed the assists on Gourde’s goal at 13:01, as the Lightning set a new postseason franchise record for the fastest back-to-back goals.

    Entering the first intermission, Tampa held a, 2-0, lead on the scoreboard, despite trailing Boston in shots on goal, 8-7.

    The Bruins led in blocked shots (5-4), takeaways (1-0) and hits (19-18), while the Lightning had the advantage in giveaways (4-3) and faceoff win percentage (56-44).

    The Bolts were 1/2 on the power play, while the B’s had yet to see any action on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

    Patrice Bergeron caught Palat with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 1:18 of the second peirod.

    Once again, Boston’s penalty kill was no match for the Lightning’s power play as Sergachev (1) crept in from the point to blast a one-timer from the slot over Halak’s leg pad, but under his glove hand to make it a three-goal game.

    Kucherov (9) and Brayden Point (8) had the assists on Sergachev’s power-play goal and the Lightning led, 3-0, at 2:14 of the second period.

    About a minute later, Zach Bogosian tripped Brad Marchand and was sent to the box– giving Boston their first power play opportunity of the night at 3:41.

    On the ensuing power play, Krug sent an intentional shot pass in Marchand’s direction as Marchand (7) accidentally on purpose was in the right place at the right time for the deflection from the side of the crease to score Boston’s only goal of the night.

    Krug (6) and David Pastrnak (7) had the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-1, at 4:56 of the second period.

    Moments later, McAvoy took things over the line with Kucherov and presented the Lightning with yet another power play while No. 73 in black and gold went to the box for roughing at 8:18.

    Tampa’s skater advantage didn’t take long as Killorn (3) pocketed a rebound while falling as a result of a net front battle with Moore to give the Bolts a, 4-1, lead at 8:35.

    Palat (4) and Kucherov (10) nabbed the assists on Killorn’s power-play goal.

    The world feed from Toronto cut to Vladar dressed in full gear and ready to enter the game after Killorn’s goal, but Boston’s backup goaltender wouldn’t make his NHL debut until the next stoppage about a few minutes later.

    Vladar didn’t get much support from his teammates after they had already let down one goaltender for the night.

    Point (6) scored on a breakaway on the one chance Tampa had immediately after Boston mustered a rush the other way and made it a four-goal game as he extended the Lightning’s lead to, 5-1, at 15:23 of the second period.

    Killorn (3) and Sergachev (3) had the assists on Point’s goal while Vladar made a desperate sprawling effort to stop the prominent young star for the Bolts, but came up a little bit short.

    As soon as the puck was in the back of the net, Krug and Tyler Johnson were going at it in the other end exchanging fisticuffs and receiving fighting majors in what was Boston’s second fight this postseason and first since Krug dropped the gloves with Coleman on Aug. 5th in the Round Robin action.

    As Johnson fell to the ice, he smashed face first and proceeded with caution down the tunnel, but eventually returned to the game’s action without issue.

    A few minutes later, Killorn (4) notched his second goal of the game again on a rebound after Lauzon and Grzelcyk blew their defensive coverage in their own zone.

    Gourde (4) and Bogosian (4) had the assists on Killorn’s goal and the Bolts led, 6-1, at 18:01 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Wednesday, the Lightning led, 6-1, on the scoreboard and, 25-16, in shots on goal– including an, 18-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bolts also led in blocked shots (10-9), takeaways (4-2) and faceoff win% (58-43), while the Bruins led in hits (37-31).

    Both teams had five giveaways each after two periods.

    Tampa was 3/4 and Boston was 1/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Kucherov (4) kicked things off in the final frame with a goal through Vladar’s five-hole to make it, 7-1, and tie Martin St. Louis’ franchise record for most playoff goals scored with his 33rd career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in a Lightning uniform.

    Point (9) had the only assist on Kucherov’s goal at 3:58 of the third period.

    Midway through the third, McAvoy and Kucherov got into another bit of a scuffle, but only McAvoy was penalized with a roughing minor and a misconduct at exactly 10:00 of the third period.

    Boston killed Tampa’s string of three consecutive conversions on the power play and resumed even strength without any issues.

    Late in the period, however, Bergeron sent the puck out of play and clear over the glass without any deflections, yielding an automatic delay of game penalty at 16:42.

    Tampa’s ensuing power play was cut short three seconds into their advantage as Cedric Paquette was called for interference at 16:45.

    While skating at 4-on-4, Coleman and David Krejci exchanged pleasantries, which yielded a 4-on-3 advantage for the Bruins after Coleman was hit with two roughing minors, while Krejci received only one roughing minor at 18:07 of the third period.

    Krug received an early dismissal 15 seconds later after sending a puck with a little too much force in the direction of a linesman after an offside call at 18:22, and was given a misconduct, as well as a trip to the dressing room.

    At the final horn, the Lightning had won, 7-1, and took a, 2-1, series lead in what was Boston’s worst deficit since losing, 9-3, in Buffalo against the Sabres on April 29, 1992 in the 1992 Adams Division Semifinal.

    Tampa finished the game leading in shots on goal (31-24), blocked shots (15-12), giveaways (10-7) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Boston wrapped up Wednesday night’s action with the advantage in hits (50-40).

    The Bolts finished 3/6 and the B’s finished 1/3 on the power play.

    Boston fell to 2-3 when trailing after one period and 1-4 when trailing after two periods in the 2020 posteason.

    Game 4 is scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena in the Toronto bubble. Viewers in the United States can tune to USA Network to catch the action, while those in Canada can choose from CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Bruins roar to, 3-2, victory in Game 1 against Tampa

    Brad Marchand had a pair of points– including the eventual de facto game-winning goal– as the Boston Bruins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Sunday night in Game 1 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchup.

    Jaroslav Halak (4-1 in five games this postseason, 2.23 goals against average, .921 save percentage) made 35 saves on 37 shots faced for a .946 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Lightning goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy (6-3 in nine games this postseason, 2.09 GAA, .925 SV%) stopped 28 out of 31 shots for a .903 SV% in the loss.

    For the first time since the Lightning beat the Bruins in five games in the 2018 Second Round, the two clubs meet once again in the Stanley Cup Playoffs– and it just so happens to also be the Second Round.

    Both teams are 1-1 in all time postseason series’ against one another, as Boston defeated Tampa in seven games in the 2011 Eastern Conference Final prior to their five game ousting at the hands of the Bolts in 2018.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, re-inserted Anders Bjork and Nick Ritchie into his lineup– with Bjork to the right and Ritchie to the left of Charlie Coyle on the third line– while Jack Studnicka and Par Lindholm were scratched.

    As a result of the “new” third line from Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round to Game 1 against the Lightning in the Second Round, Sean Kuraly was once again in his usual role as the fourth line center.

    Cassidy made no other changes to his lineup and opted to start Kuraly’s line against Tampa’s energy line.

    Boston’s long list of scratches included Zach Senyshyn, Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagacé, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Studnicka, Jeremy Lauzon, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman.

    Tampa’s long list of scratches for Sunday’s matchup included Luke Schenn, Mathieu Joseph, Jan Rutta, Braydon Coburn, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood.

    Stamkos has not practiced since mid July and has been out of the lineup since having “core muscle surgery” in March. He was originally on track to be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks.

    At puck drop, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara took sole possession of the second-most playoff games in Bruins franchise history as he’s suited up in 146 career Stanley Cup Playoff games in the spoked-B– surpassing Wayne Cashman (145 playoff games in Boston), who’s now tied for third with Patrice Bergeron (who tied Cashman’s number of games on Sunday).

    Ray Bourque is the all-time franchise leader with 180 career postseason games as a Bruin.

    Less than a minute into the action, Chara was whistled for a cross checking infraction 29 seconds into the first period– yielding the game’s first power play to the Lightning.

    Tampa couldn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however, and the officials returned the favor for what was otherwise a thing threshold with a makeup call that was also questionable at best.

    Mikhail Sergachev cut a rut to the penalty box for holding Chris Wagner at 11:40, but the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on their first power play of the night.

    Late in the opening frame, however, Brandon Carlo rocketed a shot from the point that Coyle (3) redirected over Vasilevksiy’s blocker into the upper 90 to give Boston the game’s first goal.

    Carlo (1) and Marchand (5) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal as the B’s went ahead, 1-0, at 18:52 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 15-10.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (4-0) and hits (18-10), while both teams had five blocked shots aside and were 50-50 in faceoff win percentage.

    Each club was 0/1 on the power play after one period, as well.

    Early in the middle frame, Victor Hedman tripped up Bjork and was sent to the sin bin at 3:08 of the second period.

    While on the ensuing power play, the Bruins were moving the puck around the attacking zone with ease, but just hadn’t quite nailed the timing until David Krejci waited for the right passing lane to open up and fired a pass through the slot for David Pastrnak (2) to score on a one-timer from his usual spot at the faceoff dot to Vasilevskiy’s right side.

    Pastrnak’s power-play goal gave Boston the, 2-0, lead and was assisted by Krejci (7) and Torey Krug (4) at 4:34 of the second period.

    With the primary assist, Krejci’s ongoing point streak was extended to seven games– the longest since Bergeron’s seven-game point streak for Boston in the 2014 postseason.

    About a minute later, Bergeron was sent to the box for holding, presenting the Bolts with a power play opportunity at 5:50 of the middle period.

    Tampa didn’t score on the ensuing advantage, however.

    Midway through the second period, Wagner was penalized for roughing against Tyler Johnson at 13:36, but once again the Lightning couldn’t muster any thunder on the power play.

    Late in the period, Alex Killorn ran through Charlie McAvoy while the Bruins defender didn’t have the puck on his stick.

    As a result, Killorn brought upon himself an interference minor at 16:46, but the Bruins didn’t score on the ensuing advantage.

    Through 40 minutes of play Sunday night, the B’s led the Bolts, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing Tampa in shots on goal, 28-22– including an, 18-7, advantage for the Lightning in the second period alone.

    The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (13-11), takeaways (9-7), giveaways (9-5), hits (29-23) and faceoff win% (59-41), however, as the teams returned to their dressing rooms for the second intermission.

    Tampa was 0/3 and Boston was 1/3 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Boston’s first line worked the puck deep, Bergeron lifted a stick to free the rubber biscuit, then sent it to Pastrnak for a quick pass to Marchand (3) for the one-timer from point blank while free and clear of any Lightning defenders to make it, 3-0, for the Bruins.

    Pastrnak (4) and Bergeron (5) notched the assists on Marchand’s goal at 1:17 of the third period and the B’s had a commanding three-goal lead.

    Well, until midway in the third period, but not before both teams skated 4-on-4 for a couple of minutes after Ritchie and Zach Bogosian exchanged brief pleasantries resulting in roughing minors at 2:49 of the third period.

    Hedman (2) jumped on a loose puck in the high slot and fired a shot under Halak’s glove while McAvoy inadvertently screened his own goaltender, cutting Boston’s lead back down to two-goals and putting the Lightning on the scoreboard, 3-1, at 8:50 of the third.

    Brayden Point (6) and Ondrej Palat (3) tabbed the assists on Hedman’s first goal of the night.

    Bolts head coach, Jon Cooper, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker with about 2:29 remaining in the third period and Tampa was able to pull to within one when Hedman (again) fired a shot from the point off of McAvoy in front of his own goaltender while Pat Maroon acted as a screen for the Lightning.

    Hedman (3) had his second goal of the night on a deflection off of McAvoy past Halak and the Lightning trailed, 3-2, at 18:46.

    Kevin Shattenkirk (2) and Johnson (2) tallied the assists on the goal, but it was too little, too late for Tampa.

    Despite vacating the crease for another extra attacker opportunity with one minute left in regulation, the Bruins worked a couple of chances in the offensive zone to hit the open twine, but missed, while the Bolts failed to send the game-tying goal past Halak at the other end.

    At the final horn, Boston secured the, 3-2, win in Game 1 and took the, 1-0, series lead, despite trailing in shots on goal, 37-31.

    The Bruins finished the night with the advantage in blocked shots (20-19), giveaways (10-9) and faceoff win% (59-42), while the Lightning completed the effort leading in hits (39-37).

    Tampa finished 0/3 and Boston went 1/3 on the power play on Sunday, while Marchand tied Ken Hodge and Don Marcotte for ninth on Boston’s all-time postseason goal scoring list with his 34th career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal.

    He also tied Bobby Orr for seventh on the team’s all-time list in postseason points with the Bruins with his 91st and 92nd career Stanley Cup Playoff points to aid his 1-1–2 totals in Game 1.

    Game 2 is set for Tuesday night in the Toronto bubble with puck drop expected a little after 7 p.m. ET. Viewers in the United States can catch the action on NBCSN, while those in Canada can tune to CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • DTFR Podcast #204- Late For Everything!

    DTFR Podcast #204- Late For Everything!

    Nick and Colby talk about what went wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs and other teams eliminated in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier, as well as preview the already in progress 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify.

  • Capitals cap off Round Robin with, 2-1, win against Boston

    T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson had the only goals for the Washington Capitals as they beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario in Sunday afternoon’s final Eastern Conference Round Robin matchup.

    Braden Holtby (1-1-1 in three games played, 1.98 goals against average, .925 save percentage this postseason) made 30 saves on 31 shots against for the .968 SV% in the win for the Capitals.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (0-2-0 in two games, 2.54 GAA, .917 SV% this postseason) stopped 23 out of 25 shots faced for a .920 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 0-3-0 in the Round Robin tournament to determine the seeding for Eastern Conference matchups in the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, while Washington improved to finish 1-1-1 in Round Robin action.

    As a result, the Caps will face the New York Islanders in the First Round, while the Bruins will square off with the Carolina Hurricanes in a rematch of the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.

    Ondrej Kase made his Round Robin debut for Boston in the club’s final matchup before the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing their exhibition meeting with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as well as their two prior Round Robin matchups with the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Kase joined the team in Toronto a few days after the club arrived in time for Phase 4 of the NHL’s Return to Play plan began.

    Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Jaroslav Halak were all “unfit to participate” in practice on Friday, but rejoined the Bruins at practice on Saturday as expected after B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, tipped his hand to reporters in Friday’s media session.

    Cassidy made a few minor changes to his lineup from last Wednesday’s, 3-2, loss to the Lightning to Sunday’s matinee with the Capitals.

    Jake DeBrusk returned to the left side of the second line with Krejci at center and Kase on the right wing, while Nick Ritchie was bumped down to the left side on the third line with Charlie Coyle at center and Anders Bjork on the right side.

    On defense, Cassidy gave Matt Grzelcyk the afternoon off and slid Jeremy Lauzon in Grzelcyk’s place, while giving time to Connor Clifton on the right side of third defensive pairing.

    Boston’s long list of scratches on Sunday included Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagace, Grzelcyk, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Dan Vladar, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman.

    Almost midway into the opening frame, the Capitals finally recorded their first shot on goal at 9:09 of the first period after Boston spent much time in their attacking zone.

    Moments later, Washington defender, Dmitry Orlov, was penalized for holding Bruins forward, David Pastrnak, and the Bruins went on the power play for the first time of the afternoon at 13:34.

    Boston’s power play was powerless as Washington’s penalty kill was dominant and killed off Orlov’s minor.

    About a minute after Boston’s skater advantage came to an end, Clifton reacted to a slash from Evgeny Kuznetsov and the two players were sent to the penalty box at 17:11 of the first period– Clifton for cross checking, Kuznetsov for slashing.

    After two minutes of 4-on-4 action, the two teams resumed 5-on-5 play and the seconds ticked down towards the first intermission.

    Well, they would have anyway, if it weren’t for Oshie’s (1) lucky bounce and ensuing poke check that resulted in a, 1-0, lead for the Caps with 16 seconds remaining in the period.

    Rask made the initial save as the puck rebounded off his pad, then deflected off of Zdeno Chara’s stick right within reach of Oshie for the unassisted goal at 19:44.

    Washington entered the first intermission with the, 1-0, lead on the scoreboard, despite trailing Boston, 6-2, in shots on goal.

    The Capitals held the advantage in blocked shots (8-4) and hits (16-8), while the Bruins led in takeaways (4-2), giveaways (5-3) and faceoff win percentage (63-37) entering dressing room after 20 minutes of action.

    The B’s were 0/1 on the power play, while the Caps had yet to be on the advantage heading into the middle frame.

    Ilya Kovalchuk kicked off the second period with a hooking infraction against Torey Krug at 2:31 of the middle period, yielding the second power play of the game to the Bruins.

    Once more, however, Boston’s power play was ineffective.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Brandon Carlo hooked Jakub Vrana at 7:01 of the second period and presented the Capitals with their first skater advantage of the game.

    Washington did not convert on the ensuing power play, however.

    A little over eight minutes later, DeBrusk was penalized for holding the stick at 15:29– sending the Capitals on their second power play of the game.

    Washington wasn’t able to convert on the skater advantage, though, and play resumed at even strength once Boston’s penalty kill successfully killed off DeBrusk’s minor infraction.

    At the end of the period, Sean Kuraly and Oshie got into a bit of a heated exchange that didn’t result in fisticuffs, but yielded matching roughing minor penalties– officially at 20:00 of the second period.

    The two teams would start the final frame 4-on-4 for two minutes before resuming 5-on-5 action.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Capitals led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and trailed the Bruins, 16-15, in shots on goal despite holding the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, 13-10.

    Washington also held the advantage in blocked shots (12-8) and hits (22-19), while Boston led in takeaways (8-4), giveaways (13-5) and faceoff win% (61-39).

    Both teams were 0/2 on the power play heading into the dressing room for the second intermission.

    Washington jumped out to a two-goal lead early in the final frame thanks to Wilson’s (1) quick break into the attacking zone and lob shot over Rask’s glove side from point blank.

    Ilya Kovalchuk (1) and Michal Kempny (1) tallied the assists on Wilson’s goal and the Capitals led, 2-0, at 2:49 of the third period.

    Almost midway through the third period, Charlie McAvoy tripped up Richard Panik and received a minor penalty for tripping at 7:29, but the Caps didn’t get a power play out of the infraction as Panik was sent to the sin bin as well with an embellishment minor.

    After two minutes at 4-on-4, the score remained, 2-0, Capitals and the two teams resumed full strength action.

    Just past the midpoint of the third period, however, DeBrusk (1) one-timed a shot through Holtby’s five-hole while crashing the slot after stepping over the puck and receiving the pass from Kase.

    Kase (1) and Krejci (1) were credited with the assists and the B’s cut the lead in half, 2-1, at 10:30 of the third period.

    After that, nothing else happened.

    No goals, no penalties, but a bunch of saves by each goalie.

    With one minute remaining in the game, Rask vacated his net for the extra attacker, but even after Boston used their timeout after a stoppage with 34.3 seconds left in regulation, the Bruins couldn’t tie the game and force overtime.

    At the final horn, the Capitals had won, 2-1, and finished the afternoon leading in blocked shots (21-14) and hits (31-24).

    The Bruins finished the game leading in shots (31-25), giveaways (19-12) and faceoff win% (64-36).

    Both teams finished the afternoon 0/2 on the power play.

    The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round start Tuesday with the full schedule yet to be announced.

  • Lightning strike three times in, 3-2, win against Boston

    Is it really August or is it actually just Groundhog Day for the Boston Bruins? The B’s dropped another one, 3-2, to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday in their second game of the Round Robin tournament to determine the No. 1-4 seeds for the Eastern Conference in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (2-0-0, 1.92 goals against average, .933 save percentage in two games) turned aside 25 out of 27 shots faced for a .926 SV% in the win for the Lightning.

    Meanwhile, Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (0-1-0, 3.10 GAA, .914 SV% in one game) made 32 saves on 35 shots against for a .914 SV% in the loss at the NHL’s Eastern Conference bubble– Scotiabank Arena– in Toronto, Ontario.

    Entering Wednesday, Patrice Bergeron had a day off at practice on Monday, which Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, later clarified to reporters was just a maintenance day, while Rask was back to practice on Monday and returned to the lineup against the Lightning.

    Rask mentioned at his media conference call after Monday’s practice that he spent a couple of days quarantined in his hotel room after having a cough and needed to have two negative tests for COVID-19 in order to return.

    “I had a cough so I just clicked ‘yes’ on the app and then all kinds of red lights started blinking so I was quarantined for two days. They wanted to do two negative tests after that,” Rask explained to reporters via Zoom.

    Nick Ritchie was also back in the lineup after missing last Sunday’s, 4-1, loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, while Ondrej Kase was ruled out of Wednesday’s action against Tampa, but should be good to go against Washington, according to Cassidy.

    As a result, Cassidy switched up his middle lines from last Sunday’s matchup with the Flyers to Wednesday’s meeting with the Lightning.

    Ritchie took to David Krejci’s left wing with Karson Kuhlman on the other side, while Anders Bjork was on the left side of Charlie Coyle on the third line– with Jake DeBrusk serving as the right winger.

    The Bruins made no other changes to their lineup.

    Meanwhile, Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Kase, Maxime Lagace, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar and Trent Frederic served as Boston’s scratches.

    Jon Cooper’s Lightning were without their captain, Steven Stamkos, in the lineup once again. Stamkos has yet to make his Round Robin debut for the Bolts (with their last matchup before the First Round against Philadelphia set for Saturday).

    Less than a minute into the action, Jeremy Lauzon was caught trailing Blake Coleman and hooked the Lightning forward, resulting in a power play for the Bolts 43 seconds into the first period.

    Tampa was not able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Brayden Point (2) slipped a loose puck through Rask’s five-hole after Rask made the initial save and follow up stop, while the Bruins scrambled to defender after blowing a pair of chances to score at the other end.

    Ondrej Palat (1) and Nikita Kucherov (1) tallied the assists on Point’s goal and the Lightning led, 1-0, at 7:33 of the first period.

    A few minutes later, the Bruins had too many skaters on the ice and were assessed a bench minor for doing so at 10:19. Ritchie served the bench infraction, but Tampa’s power play struck fast.

    Alex Killorn (1) redirected a shot with the back of his skate blade after the puck deflected off of Sean Kuraly’s stick initially off a shot from teh point by Lightning defender, Victor Hedman.

    Hedman (1) and Tyler Johnson (1) notched the assists on the goal and the Bolts led, 2-0, at 10:32.

    Late in the period, chaos ensued as both teams took issue with one another– culminating in Torey Krug and Coleman exchanging fisticuffs at 17:07, and continuing almost 90 seconds later when Point and Charlie McAvoy shared an embrace and with it roughing minor penalties.

    Point earned two roughing infractions, while McAvoy was only charged with one at 18:25, yielding the first power play of the game for Boston, but the Bruins couldn’t hit the twine in the dying minutes of the opening frame.

    After one period of play, the Lightning led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, but the B’s held the advantage in shots on goal, 9-8.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-2), but Tampa had the edge in just about every other statistical category, including takeaways (4-1), hits (13-11) and faceoff win percentage (61-39).

    Both teams had one giveaway aside, while the Bolts were 1/2 on the power play and the B’s were 0/1 heading into the first intermission.

    Early in the middle frame, Coleman was penalized for interference when he brought down Kuraly while crashing the net at 4:37 of the second period, but (in what was a trend for the afternoon) Boston’s power play wasn’t able to convert on the advantage.

    Late in the period McAvoy (1) one-timed a shot from the point on a pass from Krug off a faceoff win by Bergeron and cut Tampa’s lead in half.

    Boston was on the board, 2-1, while Krug (1) and Bergeron (1) picked up their first points of the Round Robin games at 16:43.

    Entering the second intermission, Tampa was ahead, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 19-18, in shots on goal– including an, 11-9, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Lightning led in blocked shots (11-7) and takeaways (5-3) after 40 minutes of action, while the Bruins held the advantage in giveaways (7-3), hits (26-19) and faceoff win% (63-38).

    Tampa remained 1/2 on the power play, while Boston dropped to 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    Chris Wagner (2) tapped in a loose puck after Zdeno Chara fired a shot that leaked through Vasilevskiy at 1:47 of the third period and the Bruins tied the game, 2-2.

    Chara (1) and Kuraly (1) had the assists on Wagner’s goal and Boston swung momentum in their favor– only until about the midpoint of the final frame.

    Kucherov tripped Wagner at 5:13 of the third period, but the Bruins didn’t convert on the skater advantage.

    Midway through the third, Barclay Goodrow caught Bjork with a charge and was assessed a minor penalty at 10:19. Once more, Boston’s power play couldn’t get anything going and did not convert on the advantage.

    From there, momentum shifted back to Tampa as the Bruins let rush after rush enter their own zone.

    Yanni Gourde threw the puck on net, Rask made an initial pad save, but Johnson (1) scored on the rebound while Brandon Carlo was trailing behind the play and Krug was defending the other side where the Lightning entered the zone.

    Gourde (1) and Killorn (1) collected the assists on Johnson’s game-winning goal and the Bolts grabbed the, 3-2, lead at 18:33 of the third period– with just enough time to hold off any last ditch efforts from Boston.

    Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker with about 1:15 remaining, but it was to no avail as the final horn sounded and the Lightning won, 3-2.

    The Bolts finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal (35-27) and blocked shots (16-10), while the B’s finished with the advantage in giveaways (11-10), hits (31-28) and faceoff win% (61-39).

    Tampa finished 1/2 on the skater advantage and Boston went 0/4 on the power play on Wednesday.

    The Bruins fell to 0-2-0 in the Round Robin action and can finish no better than 3rd in the seeding with a win against the Washington Capitals in any fashion on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, the Lightning can all but assure themselves of the No. 1 seed with a win in any fashion against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.