BSJ Game Report: Lightning 4, Bruins 3 (SO) - A lack of scoring depth trips up B’s in shootout loss to Tampa

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Lightning in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis…

Box Score

HEADLINES:

Secondary-scoring issues continue 

Stop if you’ve heard this before. 

The Bruins’ big guns up front once again left their mark on the box score Thursday night — with Boston’s top line of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand generating a combined three goals and seven total points on the night. 

Boston’s man advantage struck on three of its five opportunities, with Torey Krug joining the B’s shortlist of scorers with a pair of secondary helpers. 


And beyond that? *crickets*

For as much as Thursday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Lightning lived up to the hype as an entertaining heavyweight bout between arguably the two best teams in the NHL — the one point that Boston did manage to earn does feel like rather hollow, given that this game could have been put out of reach if the B’s received any semblance of secondary scoring.

David Krejci sitting out of the contest didn’t do the Bruins any favors, but the rest of Boston’s supporting cast labored when it came to landing punches against the Bolts — with the Bruins only generating 15 scoring chances (four of the high-danger variety) during 47:39 of 5v5 TOI. 

There’s no need to hit the panic button quite yet with this Bruins club — after all, they’re still 5-1-1 and went toe to toe with a stacked Lightning team. But Boston can’t expect to its top forward trio and power play to be the lone conduit of offense over the long haul of the regular season.

Bruins fail to step on Tampa’s throat: 

Even with a bit of a sluggish start on Thursday night, the Bruins seemed to have the Lightning right where they wanted them in the closing seconds of the opening period.

Set to enter the first intermission with a one-goal cushion thanks to a power-play strike from Pastrnak at 9:34, Boston’s steady start bottomed out in short order — as Brayden Point managed to slip past the B’s top D pairing of Charlie McAvoy and Zdeno Chara and skate in unopposed against Tuukka Rask. 

The Bolts’ top-line center cashed in on the quality look, with Point snapping the puck over Rask’s glove to tie things up with just 0.8 seconds remaining in the stanza.

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1184984675103715329

That backbreaking tally was a sign of things to come, as Boston repeatedly failed to put away a Bolts team that traded punches with the Bruins for most of the night. Now, a certain amount of credit has to be given to a talented Tampa roster, but the Bruins let multiple miscues bite them throughout the night. 

Just 3:06 after Bergeron gave Boston a 2-1 lead in the second period, Mathieu Joseph secured the equalizer for Tampa — with a poor drop pass from Jake DeBrusk starting a counter-rush from the Bolts that both McAvoy and Torey Krug failed to bottle up and contain. 

https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/1184992151404498946

Secondary scoring might have been the main culprit responsible for Thursday’s loss, but Boston’s defensive efforts against the rush and poor decision making continue to put this team in a hole.

THREE UP:

David Pastrnak: With his power-play tally just six seconds into a 5v4 stint in the first period, Pastrnak had the distinction of scoring Boston’s last five goals — dating back to Monday’s victory over the Ducks. Pastrnak is just the third Bruin in franchise history to score five straight goals. Glen Murray holds the all-time franchise record with six straight goals from Jan 29 - Feb. 1, 2004. Add in the game-tying tally at 16:55 of the third period, and Pastrnak is now on pace to score 94 goals this season. Casual. 

https://twitter.com/BruinsCLNS/status/1185006104041938944

Penalty Kill: Boston’s PK unit did a fantastic job against a high-powered Tampa power play that had converted on 31.3% of its chances entering Thursday’s showdown. Even with the usual suspects like Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos recording over three minutes of 5v4 TOI, the B’s penalty kill stood tall — limiting Tampa to just two shots on goal over three power-play stints. 

Tuukka Rask: Even if Boston’s defense against the rush continues to struggle, Rask held his own in net on Thursday, stopping 33 of the 36 shots that came his way in the loss — including three stops during a high-octane OT period. 

THREE DOWN:

Charlie McAvoy: Rough night at the office for McAvoy, who was tagged for a pair of goals against and paid dearly on a couple of poor decisions in Boston’s own zone. That breakdown against Point proved to be a major momentum shift in favor of the Lightning after a strong opening stanza for Boston. 

Jake DeBrusk: Along with failing to get on the scoreboard, it was a tough night all around for DeBrusk, as his drop pass in the second period was picked up and led to a tally from Joseph seconds later. Not the best birthday for the 23-year-old winger, who also failed to score in Round 4 of the shootout — sealing the win for the Bolts. 

Coyle Line: Despite having 66.67% of their faceoffs in the O-zone, a line of Coyle, DeBrusk and Brett Ritchie only generated two shots on goal and were tagged for a goal against in 4:28 of 5v5 TOI. 

PLAY OF THE GAME: 

Sweet release by Pastrnak on the power-play goal, but give most of the credit to Bergeron on this sequence, as he managed to corral the puck away from Erik Cernak in the slot and feed it to No. 88 before the Tampa defenseman was able to clear the puck out of danger. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1184976109458341888

PARTING THOUGHT: 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1185001488784994304

LOOKING AHEAD: The Bruins will now head up north for a matchup against another Atlantic Division foe in the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. While the status of David Krejci is still up in the air, the Leafs are also dealing with their own issues in the top six — as John Tavares will miss at least the next two weeks of action due to a broken finger.