BSJ Game Report: Lightning 5, Bruins 4 - B's can’t hold off Tampa Bay’s 3rd-period rally taken at BSJ Headquarters (Bruins)

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BSJ Game Report: Lightning 5, Bruins 4 - B's can’t hold off Tampa Bay’s 3rd-period rally

By Conor Ryan

Mar 25, 2019 • 10:55 pm

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Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-4 loss against the Lightning in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis…

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Bruins run out of gas against top team in NHL: There are some positives to take away from Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Lightning, as Boston hung around with far and away the top team in the NHL, even building itself a two-goal lead entering the third — all with three regulars missing on their blue line, a top-six winger still sidelined and with another starting defenseman knocked out in the first stanza due to injury. But the end result is still a tough pill for Boston to swallow, as the Lightning stormed back in the third period and lit the lamp three times en route to their 59th win of the year — a feat that’s only been accomplished three other times in NHL history.

There’s no question Boston will have its work cut out for it in a seven-game series against Tampa Bay if both clubs meet down the road, especially with big guns like Steven Stamkos (two goals, two assists) and Nikita Kucherov (game-tying goal at 13:15) leading the way.  And for as much as Boston can be encouraged by a strong night on the penalty kill and continued secondary-scoring contributions (11 different goal scorers over the last seven periods of hockey), the Bruins simply ran out of juice in the final frame — with poor penalties and icings forcing Boston to chase the puck for most of the last 20 minutes. That isn’t a winning formula on most nights, and especially not against a wagon like Tampa Bay.

B’s lose another body on blue line: While there are good things to take away from Monday’s hard-fought loss against the Lightning, Boston might be without yet another defensemen with just a little under two weeks until the end of the regular season. John Moore, who has played in 61 games this season while filling in for numerous vacancies across Boston’s D corps, only logged 4:40 of ice time before exiting the contest in the first period, as he appeared to injure his arm or shoulder after getting hit from behind by Adam Erne. No penalty was called, but Moore did not return for the rest of the night.

Even with Torey Krug potentially set to return on Wednesday, the strong play of Connor Clifton and the continued progress of Kevan Miller and Matt Grzelcyk, the Bruins desperately need to load up on depth ahead of what should be a grueling postseason run, and Moore gives Boston a veteran, left-shot skater with speed that can see time on both the penalty kill and power play. He may not be Boston’s top option on defense, but he’s a more than capable member of this D corps, and it’d be a tough hit if he’s forced to miss extended time.

FOUR UP

Patrice Bergeron: Anchored by Bergeron at the pivot, Boston’s top line has continued to roll since Pastrnak’s return last week — as the trio generated two goals and six total points on Monday. Bergeron finished with a pair of assists in the win, giving him 75 points on the year — a new career high for the 33-year-old center. A pretty impressive accomplishment for Bergeron, who reached his new scoring mark in just 60 games played.




Brandon Carlo:
Carlo certainly picked a good time to tally his first goal in 44 games, as he snapped one past
Andrei Vasilevskiy
while joining the rush with
David Krejci
and
Karson Kuhlman
. Add in an absurd 27:00 TOI (including 7:04 of time on an impressive PK unit), and Carlo is leaving little doubt that his sophomore slump in 2017-18 is a thing of the past.




Penalty kill:
Going toe to toe against the top power play in the NHL, Boston’s penally kill managed to more than hold its own — stopping all six of Tampa’s chances on the man advantage while holding Tampa Bay to just six shot attempts over 10:08 of 5v4 play. While
Anthony Cirelli’s
go-ahead goal was scored shortly after Boston killed off Tampa’s final penalty of the night, PK regulars like
Zdeno Chara,
Carlo and
Noel Acciari
didn’t give the Lightning much during an area of the game where they usually dominate.


Connor Clifton:
Even when most of Boston’s injured D corps is cleared for a return, I don’t think Clifton is going back to Providence any time soon. Along with a couple of bone-crushing hits, Clifton logged 20:33 of TOI and stood out on a great night for Boston’s PK.


TWO DOWN


Coyle line:
Even with his second goal as a Bruin at 8:42 in the second, Coyle and his line still struggled to find much traction for most of the night — as Boston’s third line finished with a brutal 9.52 Corsi For Percentage. Coyle also was out on the ice for
Victor Hedman’s
tap-in goal in the third — the byproduct of some brutal backchecking for Boston.


Charlie McAvoy:
An aggressive showing from McAvoy proved costly at times against a Lightning team that can bury you in a hurry. Whether it be a poor backchecking effort that allowed Hedman to bury a rebound past Rask or jumping up in the play and opening up a clean line for
Nikita Kucherov
to snipe home the equalizer at 13:15 — the Lightning seemed to take advantage of every defensive lapse the young defenseman made.


PLAY OF THE GAME


Sweet finish here by
Charlie Coyle
— who buried his second goal with the Bruins. Stick tap to
David Backes
for creating the turnover in the slot and snagging the primary assist. That gives Backes a three-game point streak.




PARTING THOUGHT


You don’t have to worry about the Lightning in the second round if
Connor Clifton
levels all of their skaters ahead of the playoffs, right?






LOOKING AHEAD


After wrapping up this four-game road trip, the Bruins will now return home for a two-game homestand, starting with a matchup against the Rangers on Wednesday. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. There’s a chance that both
Torey Krug
and
Marcus Johansson
could be back in the lineup for the matchup at TD Garden.

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