BSJ Game Report: Lightning 3, Bruins 2 (OT) - Shorthanded B’s control play, but can’t come away with 2 points

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Lightning with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

A shorthanded Bruins roster managed to secure at least one point against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions — but were unable to deliver a knockout blow despite a lopsided shot margin, with Steven Stamkos’ slap-shot blast at 1:31 in overtime sealing a 3-2 loss for the B’s on Saturday night. 

Charlie Coyle and Curtis Lazar scored for the Bruins, who drop to 12-8-1 on the season. Jeremy Swayman stopped 22 of 25 shots in the defeat.

Boston — playing without both Brad Marchand (suspension) and Charlie McAvoy (non-COVID illness) — outshot the Bolts by a 38-21 margin in regulation.  

Puck luck was not on Boston’s side through most of the first two periods of play, with the Bolts holding a 2-1 edge through 40 minutes despite getting outshot, 28-13.

Tampa’s first tally came in the midst of what looked like a promising power-play sequence for Boston past the halfway mark in the opening period. Despite some heavy O-zone pressure, Boston’s efforts to put a dent in Andrei Vasilevskiy went awry — with a skittering puck putting Mike Reilly on his heels and leading to a shorthanded tally from Taylor Raddysh, his first NHL goal.  

Boston’s fortunes sunk even further in the second. Less than a minute after the B’s rang two pucks off the post in quick succession, the Bolts padded their lead off a seemingly harmless centering feed from Ondrej Palat — which bounced off of Tomas Nosek’s skates and past Swayman to make it a 2-0 game. 

The B’s finally got on the board at 16:30 in the second, with a slick pass from Erik Haula setting up Coyle for his seventh goal of the season.

A lucky bounce finally went Boston’s way in the third, with Brandon Carlo’s dump-in bouncing off the end boards and right to Lazar, who roofed his backhand attempt past Vasilevskiy to tie things up at 2-2.

Unfortunately, Boston wasn’t able to cap off the night with two points against its Atlantic-Division foe, with Swayman standing no chance against Stamkos’ howitzer in OT.

THREE UP

Erik Haula and the Coyle Line: One of the top reasons why the Bruins should be targeting a top-six center? Because Boston might have something here with Charlie Coyle and Erik Haula, especially if they’re bumped down to the third line. Yet another encouraging outing from Haula since getting scratched last weekend. In total, the Bruins held a 21-7 edge in shot attempts during the 12:42 of 5v5 ice time that the Coyle line logged on Saturday. 

Jack Ahcan: Expectations were quite low for a B’s D corps operating without McAvoy, but Boston had plenty of contributors pulling on the same rope Saturday — especially a Providence call-up in Ahcan. In Ahcan’s 14:58 of ice time, the Bruins held a 31-5 edge in shot attempts. He might be a smaller guy, but he was pretty strong on his skates when battling with some bigger bodies on Tampa’s roster.

Bergeron Line: Once again, you can perhaps label this line in more of the “so-so” category due to a lack of finish, especially Hall. But Boston’s top line was a constant threat at 5v5 action, generating 14 scoring chances in their 13:34 of 5v5 ice time. 

ONE DOWN

Mike Reilly: There were plenty of culprits responsible for Raddysh’s shorthanded tally, but Reilly in particular had a rough go of it — with the blueliner unable to corral the puck at center ice and then getting outmuscled by the rookie on the drive to the net. 

LOOSE PUCKS

It’s OK to draw some silver linings out of this one

Yes, the Lightning were without Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

Yes, given how Boston tilted the ice in its favor throughout the contest, it likely deserved a better fate than just one point. 

Still, given how much Boston has been completely outclassed by some of the top-tier teams in the league so far this year, it’s okay to sit back and focus on the positives out of Boston taking a point from a meeting with Tampa, especially without Marchand and McAvoy in the fold.

If you were to ask me earlier this week which game I would have penciled in as a scheduled loss following news of Marchand’s suspension, it easily would have been this one — and that sentiment was only strengthened when McAvoy was also ruled out.

But give credit where it’s due, Boston had multiple contributors all leave their imprint in this contest, with the B’s really suffocating the Bolts in the O-zone. 

This team is still missing a piece or two (and will benefit from Tuukka Rask's likely return) but the framework of a very, very good team is there. Now it’s all about building on it with the pieces you have in place — and making the moves to bring in those reinforcements when needed. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHTS

I mean, good lord.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will now head out on a three-game road trip out west, starting with a Wednesday-night bout with the Canucks. Puck drop is set for 9 p.m. at Rogers Arena.