TAMPA, Fla. -- For only the third time this season, the Boston Bruins were held scoreless as the Tampa Bay Lightning finished with a 4-0 victory Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. With the win, the Lightning are tied with the Bruins for the top spot in the Atlantic Division with 110 points. Boston does have a game in hand.
Pregame notes
After missing 15 games wit a sprained MCL in his left knee, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy returns to the lineup tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. He will be reunited with Zdeno Chara on the top pair.
"Excitement, for sure," McAvoy said. "It's been awhile. It feels like it's been longer than it has, but four weeks of hard work, a lot of stuff behind the scenes to help me get back here. I feel well and excited to get back out there tonight."
He'll be sporting a leg brace on his left knee and he's been getting used to it during the last week of practice.
"Yeah, it's different," he said. "I've had about a week or so of skating and trying to get acclimated to the brace. There are a lot of guys on the team that use them and every single one of them will tell you that it's uncomfortable at first and then you get used to it and then it feels like it's not even there. It'll be a process but I am not uncomfortable with it. It doesn't alter my skating in anyway, so it feels good."
When he first suffered the injury on March 3 against the Montreal Canadiens, McAvoy's goal was to return the final week of the regular season in order to prepare for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Beginning tonight, he'll have four games to shake the rust.
"I'm going to take these games and this opportunity to do so," he said. "I'm excited to start tonight and all these games matter a lot. I want to get out there and do everything I can to get back and pick up where I left off and help give the team the best chance to win."
McAvoy has seven goals and 25 assists for 32 points, including a plus-26 rating in 59 games this season. He'll be back working on the second power play too.
Masked men: Tuukka Rask will make his second-to-last start of the regular season tonight. He's expected to start again on Thursday against the Panthers, and at this point, backup Anton Khudobin is scheduled to finish out the regular season with back-to-back starts on Saturday and Sunday in Boston. Bruce Cassidy said it's up to Rask if he wants to play in one of those two games on the weekend. He enters tonight's game with a 34-11-5 record, a 2.28 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He has a 16-6-1 record, a 2.42 and a .909 in 23 career games against the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy will play his 64th game of the season tonight. He's 42-17-3 with a 2.62 and a .919.
M*A*S*H unit: Add Tommy Wingels to the list of injured players for the Bruins. He was slashed on the hand during Sunday's game in Philadelphia and will not be in the lineup against the Lightning tonight. Cassidy said the injury isn't believed to be long-term. As a result, the Bruins recalled Colby Cave from Providence and he'll center the fourth line. The Bruins received a bit of good news from back home in Boston. Forward Rick Nash began skating in hopes he'll be ready for the playoffs. He's missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury. Riley Nash, who received more than 40 stitches in and around his right ear last Saturday, will remain in Boston for the duration of this road trip.
Brandon Carlo update: Bruins announce the second-year defenseman will have season-ending surgery to repair a left-ankle fracture. Expected recovery time is 3-4 months.
Captain-less: The Lightning will be without Steven Stamkos tonight due to injury. Tampa coach Jon Cooper said it's not cause for concern and the team's captain will be ready for the playoffs.
Observations from the first period.
- Strong defensive play by Torey Krug to eliminate a scoring chance. Game's physical right off the top.
- Noel Acciari might land his second NHL fight tonight.
- Solid stick check by Nikita Kucherov to strip Chara and create a scoring chance. Rask with the save.
- Lightning giving the Bruins the half wall on the breakout. Clean exits for Boston.
- Matt Grzelcyk is one of the better rookie defensemen in the league.
- Rask out of position and the Lightning have a wide open net but Bergeron blocked the rebound to keep the puck out.
- Ryan Donato drilled with a shot in the offensive zone. In a bit discomfort as he skates to the bench.
- Danton Heinen going to the box for tripping. Power play for the Lightning.
- Delayed entry is just ridiculous.
- Lightning has wasted so much time on this PP. Bruins kill it off.
- Last game, the Lightning attempted the stretch pass time and again. Tonight, it's all about the dump and chase.
- Outstanding defensive layers by Nick Holden and Krug to stifle scoring chance.
- David Krejci goes to the net and draws a tripping penalty. First PP for the Bruins.
- Lightning kill it off.
- It's not even fair. Bergeron rings one off the post after an incredibly sustained forecheck with 2:40 remaining in the period.
- That was an awful call on Pastrnak.
- Tampa begins period with 1:58 remaining on PP.
- Rask leaving some tempting rebounds.
- That's the right call. No goal. High stick by Gionta.
- Puck management an issue for Chara a few times tonight.
- Rask has to stop that. Not sure how that snuck by him. Tampa with a 1-0 lead. That's Brayden Point's 31st goal of the season. He's on path to have a similar career as Bergeron.
- Too many D-to-D passes tonight by the Bruins. Need more quick-ups.
- Traffic in front of Rask and he can't see it as Victor Hedman scores to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead. It was Tampa's 30th shot of the game.
- Rask facing a ton of rubber and now Tampa gains a 3-0 lead.
- He's not getting much help but he's fighting the puck.
- Cassidy looking for goalie interference but call stands and Bruins lose their timeout.
- If the Bruins can get one before the end of the period. . .
- Bruins get a power play with 55.9 seconds remaining in the period.
- Bruins start with 1:05 of power-play time.
- Chara still shaking off the rust.
- Jake DeBrusk blows a tire in the offensive zone and the Lightning gain a 2-on-1 with J.T. Miller finishing with a goal to give Tampa a 4-0 lead. It was scored high blocker on the short side, which is unusual for Rask.
- Marchand going to the box for hooking.
- As one penalty is about to expire, the Bruins get called for a delay of game.
- Bruins kill off both penalties.
- Pastrnak with a wide-open net but sails the one-timer over the net.