BSJ Game Report: Bruins 5, Lightning 2 - Marchand, Pastrnak lift B’s past Bolts

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the Lightning, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

Best win of the season? Best win of the season. 

Even without Charlie McAvoy, the Bruins skated into Amalie Arena and took care of business against the Lightning on Saturday — posting a 5-2 victory against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

While Boston’s top-six unit flexed its muscles off of goals from David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand (two goals apiece), this was about as complete of a win as one could ask from this club. 

The B’s benefited from more secondary scoring further down on the depth chart via an Anton Blidh snipe in the second period — while a shorthanded B’s D corps and PK unit helped slow down a Tampa Bay offense boosted in recent days by the return of Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

Linus Ullmark stopped 27 of the 29 shots that came his way in the win for the Bruins, who improve to 18-11-2 on the season. 

Pastrnak gave Boston some breathing room right out of the gate, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy just 1:11 into regulation with a quick snap shot from the blue line that caught the former Vezina Trophy winner by surprise.

Just 4:59 later, Pastrnak was at it again. A strong forechecking effort from that second line led to another Grade-A chance for Pastrnak, who fired a loose puck into an empty Bolts net for his second strike of the evening. 

Boston kept the pressure up just after puck drop in the second, with Marchand tipping a Mike Reilly shot past Vasilevskiy for his second goal in as many games — extending Boston’s lead to 3-0.

A revamped third line of Blidh, Charlie Coyle and Oskar Steen manufactured more insurance for Boston later in the middle frame — with a slick feed from Steen in traffic setting up Blidh for his second tally of the 2021-22 season.

As expected, Tampa pushed back in the third — with Ondrej Palat and Point beating Ullmark at 0:24 and 11:20, respectively, to make it a two-goal game. But the B’s managed to hang on down the stretch, negating a late Tampa power play before Marchand iced things with an empty-net strike.

While the Bruins have been able to impose their will against lesser foes this season (a .794 points percentage against clubs not in the playoff picture), a valid criticism of this team has been failing to provide results when matched up against true Cup contenders. 

Sure, it’s a regular-season win in the dog days of winter — but man, there’s an awful lot to like about how the B’s fared for most of this contest, especially given the opponent and some of the absences on Boston’s own roster.

FIVE UP

David Pastrnak: Don’t look now, but the B’s top sniper might be finally heating up. Along with three goals in his last three games, Pastrnak’s recent scoring uptick has again been the byproduct of him keeping things simple (high shot volume, good forechecking efforts, netfront presence) … and yes, some puck luck.

Just wait until he starts rifling home those one-timers on the power play. 

Entire top-six unit: Pastrnak deserved to get singled out in this one, but Saturday’s win is a prime example of what Bruce Cassidy likely envisioned when it came to splitting up that Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak trio. Pastrnak led the way, but this new-look second line continues to build some O-zone traction together, with Taylor Hall (two assists tonight) now up to nine points in his last nine games. 

Add in two tallies from Marchand on that top line, and this is the formula that the B’s need to adhere by if they intend on generating a more balanced offensive output.

Penalty kill: Just a spectacular showing from the B’s PK unit, especially against a power-play grouping like Tampa’s. Boston’s efforts in negating an extended 5-on-3 sequence for the Bolts — especially with both Marchand and Bergeron in the sin bin — was a turning point in the contest. Great, great work by Brandon Carlo down low.  

Linus Ullmark: Yes, the Bolts did surge back in the third period, but Ullmark was still sound for most of the evening, especially in a first period where Tampa controlled play for some extended stretches. Since the start of December, Ullmark is 5-1-0 with a .926 save percentage. 

Coyle Line: Despite losing Nick Foligno to injury (more on that below), Boston’s patchwork third line still managed to capitalize in the offensive zone — with a heads-up sequence from both Coyle and Steen setting up Blidh for his second goal of the season.

ONE DOWN

Power play: We’re splitting hairs here, but I guess we’ll knock a B’s power play that went 0-for-2 on the night — although they still managed to generate a few good looks against Vasilevskiy. 

Again, not much to really harp on after a win like this. 

LOOSE PUCKS

B’s lose Foligno

If there is one negative from a contest like this, it’s that the B’s left the Tampa ice with one less skater — as Nick Foligno exited the game in the first period due to an ugly lower-body injury.

Foligno, who needed help getting off the ice after getting his leg tangled up while falling to the frozen sheet, was ruled out shortly after heading down the tunnel.

Cassidy did not have much of an update postgame, but did note that the veteran forward will likely miss at least Monday’s game against the Capitals. 

The Bruins should have some reinforcements incoming with Jake DeBrusk and Tomas Nosek set to return from COVID-19 protocols in the next couple of days, but it’s still an unfortunate development for a respected guy in the room in Foligno.

And not for nothing, even though Foligno’s baseline production has not especially stood out this season, he still looked as though he was gaining a pretty strong rapport with Coyle and Steen on that third line as of late.  

PLAY OF THE GAME

Blidh with a sweet finish, but a great set-up here from Steen — especially while fighting through a couple of Tampa skaters. Don’t look now, but Steen is up to five points over seven games this season.

PARTING THOUGHTS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will wrap up this two-game road trip on Monday with another matchup against an Eastern Conference contender in the Washington Capitals down in DC. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.