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.
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