BSJ Game Report: Lightning 3, Bruins 2 (2OT) - Bruins fight back, but fall short in season-ending loss to Tampa Bay

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 season-ending loss to the Lightning in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

Bruins season comes to a disappointing end

A Bruins season that started with so much promise back in October came to a disheartening end on the final day of August, as the Tampa Bay Lightning outlasted Boston, 3-2, in double overtime to earn a series-clinching victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

The Bruins did what they could to keep their season alive for at least a few more days — peppering 47 shots in against Andrei Vasilevskiy and forcing overtime off of a late tally from David Krejci with under three minutes to go in the third period. 

But a series-clinching goal from Victor Hedman at 14:10 in 2OT ended Boston’s pursuit of the Stanley Cup — and punched Tampa’s ticket to the Eastern Conference Final. 

Both clubs struggled to generate quality looks in the first period of play, with Tampa only landing five shots on goal in the frame. The Bolts were handed a quality chance at tilting the ice in their favor in the early going after Zdeno Chara was banished to the sin bin for four minutes due to a high stick against Nikita Kucherov, but Boston’s PK unit stood tall — preventing Tampa’s man advantage from landing one shot in against Halak during that extended shorthanded stretch. 

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, it was Ondrej Palat that put Tampa ahead again, with the red-hot winger recording his fifth goal in the last four games off of a nifty tip of a Kevin Shattenkirk shot at 4:21. 

Boston pushed back following Tampa’s opening salvo, with the B’s power play finally securing the equalizer off of a one-time howitzer from David Pastrnak at 12:38. 

In the third period, the Bruins were dealt a brutal break, with a dangerous hit from Cedric Paquette on Charlie McAvoy knocking the B’s top defenseman out of the game. 

Even though Paquette was absolved of a questionable boarding call against Karson Kuhlman in Game 4 — and the B’s were handed a five-minute major upon review from Nick Ritchie’s hit against Yanni Gourde in that same Game 4 — there was no such review or call against Paquette in the third period, leading to an understandably incensed Cassidy on the B’s bench. 

McAvoy ultimately returned to the ice later in the period, but not before Tampa took the lead — with Anthony Cirelli tipping a Hedman shot past Halak to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead with 7:57 left in regulation. 

But Boston punched back once again, with some fortuitous bounces allowing David Krejci to secure the equalizer with just 2:33 remaining in the Bruins’ season. A tripping call against Hedman gave the Bruins a chance to land a knockout punch before overtime, but Tampa’s PK stood tall in the closing minutes to force an extra period of play. 

After a fourth period of play was not enough to determine a victor, Tampa snuffed out Boston’s attempt at a miraculous rally up in the bubble — as Hedman's shot sailed through traffic and into twine to end the Bruins’ hopes of rewriting last year’s crushing end.

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Once the Stanley Cup favorites as the first club to break the 100-point threshold this season, Boston now enters this offseason with plenty up in the air — especially with the futures of both Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug now muddled due to both age and a looming payday, respectively. With many key cogs still expected to be back in the fold in 2020-21, Boston should once again be back in the playoff picture — but it remains to be seen just how much longer this franchise's window as a top Cup contender can remain open. 

FIVE UP

David Krejci: “Playoff Krejci” picked a good time to break through, with the veteran center setting up Pastrnak’s power-play tally before burying a loose puck in the final minutes of regulation to force overtime. Krejci’s tally was Boston’s first 5v5 goal since Marchand’s third-period strike in Game 2 back on August 25. Krejci closed out this playoff run with 10 points in 12 playoff games up in the bubble. 

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Jaroslav Halak: He's caught plenty of flak in this series for a few brutal goals against, but Boston's No. 1 goalie up in the bubble did everything he could to keep his club in the fight, finishing with 33 saves — including a couple of Grade-A looks from Ondrej Palat and a number of other Tampa forwards.

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David Pastrnak: The Bruins’ top scorer gave the Bruins new life in the second period — ripping a one-timer past Vasilevskiy with just six seconds to go on a power play. Of the Bruins’ nine goals that they scored in this series, seven have had one of Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron or Brad Marchand factoring into the scoring. 

Coyle Line: Man, imagine if Bruce Cassidy rolled with this third line earlier this series. Yes, rolling with a rookie like Jack Studnicka, all of 171 pounds soaking wet, against an imposing Tampa defense might not seem like a sound strategy, but the energetic forward made his presence felt much more than Nick Ritchie did in a similar role — generating a number of looks by simply driving to the net. 

In total, during the 15:28 of 5v5 ice time that the new line of Studnicka, Charlie Coyle and Anders Bjork all logged together, the Bruins held an edge in:

Shot attempts: 28-12
Shots on goal: 17-7
Scoring chances: 13-6
High-danger scoring chances: 6-3

Penalty kill: Boston's penalty kill did everything it could to keep this game close — limiting Tampa to just four shots on goal in close to seven minutes of power-play TOI. This unit stood tall during both that four-minute stretch in the opening period and again during an overtime sequence in which Krejci was whistled for a trip.

THREE DOWN

Ondrej Kase: The Bruins' answer for their second line picked a bad time for one of his worst showings of the season, with the winger frequently disengaged from the action and opting for low-danger shots in the O-zone. By the end of the contest, Kase was skating on the fourth line with Joakim Nordstrom and Par Lindholm. 

Cedric Paquette: In some cases, you can give a player the benefit of the doubt when we’re looking at hits like this. Considering Paquette’s lengthy rap sheet when it comes to questionable late hits — including a dangerous hit on Torey Krug just a few seasons ago — it's awfully surprising that no penalty was doled out here. 

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Power Play: Yes, you could make the argument that the power play was one of Boston's only bright spots in this series, but man, imagine how much this series could have shifted had this devastatingly effective crew managed to beat Vasilevskiy again in the final minutes of regulation. Instead, Boston only landed one shot on goal during that stretch — a bid from Pastrnak with just one second to go.

PLAY OF THE GAME

David Krejci had the Bruins fighting until the bitter end.

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PARTING THOUGHTS

And now, we wait:

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QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

"This team is resilient. We’re disappointed. We thought we were the better team tonight and we wanted to play on. We put ourselves in a hole obviously, but felt we played well enough to win tonight, get it to game six and then see what happens from there. They’re a good team too. They know how to win, they’ve done it a lot in overtime this season, and they made one more play than we did." - Bruce Cassidy

LOOKING AHEAD

With their series victory, the Lightning now advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the fifth time since 2011, with the Bolts set to take on either the Islanders or Flyers over in Edmonton. The Bruins will now leave the bubble and move toward an uncertain offseason.