GOLD STAR: Andrei Vasilevskiy showed why he could be an ace in the hole for the Tampa Bay Lightning should these two teams meet up in the playoffs. The Lightning goaltender stopped 35-of-38 shots in the win for Tampa and clearly outplayed Tuukka Rask in the battle of former Vezina Trophy winners duking it out on the ice.
It was Vasilevskiy that stopped all 14 shots that he faced in the first period while Rask let in a couple of shorthanded scores on the same power play, and that led to the B’s losing by a 2-0 score while outshooting Tampa Bay by a 14-5 margin in the first period.
Fast-forward to the third period and the Bruins were trailing just 4-3 while pushing to tie up the game, and it was Vasilevskiy that made a fantastic leg pad save on David Pastrnak after he broke in all alone on a breakaway attempt. It was the save of the game and preceded Tampa scoring two more goals on their way to the big win over the Bruins.
BLACK EYE: It was not a great night for Brad Marchand. He finished with an assist and was in the middle of a great deal that was happening on the ice, but he was also a rough minus-4 at the end of it all.
Making matters worse the Bruins agitator also took a slashing call after the period was over in the second when he decided to go in for one extra shot on Kevin Shattenkirk before the players exited for the dressing rooms. Marchand tried to plead his case as the intermission started, but his penalty wiped out a Bruins power while setting a power play goal for the Lightning at the start of the third period.
It was a key sequence in the game that ultimately led to the Bruins losing the two points. Nobody on the B’s was really bad in a fun, rough playoff-style game, but it wasn’t a good night for Marchand either.
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Boston Bruins
TURNING POINT: The Bruins nearly clawed all the way back, but the game was essentially lost after the Bruins allowed two different shorthanded goals on the same power play possession in the first period.
Anthony Cirelli scored on a rush up the left-handed wing on a shot that shouldn’t have made it past Tuukka Rask and then Mikhail Sergachev scored 62 seconds later to completely implode Boston’s power play. It gave the Lightning a 2-0 lead after a period where they were outshot 14-5 and really handed the B’s power play unit a big slice of humble pie after a really inconsistent stretch lately.
Bruce Cassidy talked postgame about bad habits creeping into the team’s power play lately and tonight may give him the hammer needed to finally make some changes.
HONORABLE MENTION: Sean Kuraly has not had a great season by any stretch of the imagination, but he was very good in a big game against the Lightning. Kuraly scored a gritty playoff-style goal in the second period when he pushed a loose puck rebound of a Charlie McAvoy shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy, and finished as one of the few plus players for the Bruins in 12:48 of ice time.
Kuraly also had five shots on net and a couple of hits in a physical game where he earned a 10-minute misconduct for tackling Anthony Cirelli after he cross-checked Zdeno Chara in the back as he was engaged with another player. Kuraly got the job done in terms of production and physicality for the Bruins and can be a real difference-making force when he plays this way.
BY THE NUMBERS: 94 – the number of combined penalty minutes for both sides as all hell broke loose in the second period with several line brawls breaking out between players on both the Bruins and Lightning. That is something you don’t see often in this kinder, gentler NHL these days.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "You’re two top teams so you’re battling and know you may face each other in the playoffs so you don’t want to give an inch out there. I guess that creates some bad blood." –Tuukka Rask on the growing rivalry between the Bruins and Lightning, which spilled over into a fight-filled, entertaining game.