Capping a brutal stretch that’s seen the Boston Bruins skate in just six games in the past 20 days, the Bruins’ third leg of a five-game road trip that’s included a loss in Buffalo and a win in Winnipeg found the Black-and-Gold in Tampa Bay for their first meeting of the year with the high-flying Lightning.
Turning to
Tuukka Rask for the second straight game, and squaring off against the 6-foot-6
Anders Lindback for the first time in his young NHL career, the Bruins took it to the Predator-turned-Bolt just 71 seconds into puck-drop. As a
Dougie Hamilton shot bounced off Lindback’s pads, a fortunate rebound matched Horton’s ability to circle around the net, and gave the 27-year-old his fifth goal of the season, and first in 10 days.
Beating Lindback just a minute into his first game against the equal opportunity B’s attack, Boston would strike just two and a half minutes later when
Patrice Bergeron buried his third of the year on a wrister that began with the 5-foot-9
Brad Marchand simply outmuscling the Bolts’ skyscrapers on defense,
Eric Brewer (6-foot-3) and
Victor Hedman (6-foot-6), putting Tampa Bay in an early 2-0 hole on home ice.
But for a Bolts squad that entered the night with a 6-2-1 record at home, and averaging a league-best 3.93 goals per game, it was a contest that was far from over.
Cutting the Black-and-Gold’s lead in half when
Steven Stamkos found a loose puck to roof home his 11th tally of the year by Rask, an evenly matched second period was headlined by rookie
Cory Conacher’s sixth goal of the season, beating the 25-year-old Rask with a shot that the B’s netminder undoubtedly should’ve had.
Erasing Boston’s once seemingly secure two-goal lead, it was the Bruins’ undeniable MVP in 2013, Brad Marchand, that put the team on his back, and struck once again. Beginning with a huge Rask stop on a partial break for the Lightning’s
Marty St. Louis, a Seguin block by
Matt Carle left the puck on the stick of the Bruins’ hottest forward, and ultimately in the back of the Lightning net. Giving No. 63 his ninth goal on just 20 shots, the lead was once again in Boston’s hands, and that’s ultimately where it would stay.
Extending their lead to two once again when Horton tipped a
Zdeno Chara shot by Lindback for his second goal of the night, Rask would stop all nine shots thrown his way in the third, giving the Bruins their second straight win, and Lindback’s first regulation loss at home in 2013.
Rask finally ends brutal stretch against Bolts
When it comes to the Bruins-Bolts showdowns for the past four years, we’ve seen very little of the Bruins’
Tuukka Rask. Hint, hint: It’s without question been by design. To be honest about it all, Rask’s stunk up the joint against Tampa Bay throughout much of his brief-but-effective career as a split-starter, backup, and now No. 1 goaltender in Boston.
Before tonight’s 24-save effort, the 25-year-old had allowed 12 goals on just 89 shots, sporting a 1-2-0 record against the Bolts with a terrible 4.06 goals-against-average. But tonight, outside of the rather soft goal scored by Conacher, the Finnish-born netminder was borderline unconscious at points.
Consider it status quo for a Bruins netminder that’s called February his own. With four wins in five games this month, Rask now boasts a stellar .934 save-percentage for February, and hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a game since Jan. 31’s nightmare against the Buffalo Sabres.
Calder talk: Conacher, Hamilton continue to shine for clubs
This year has come with plenty of praise for the Oilers’
Nail Yakupov, the Blues’
Vladimir Tarasenko, and even Montreal’s
Alex Galchenyuk, but two of the Calder Trophy’s darkhorse candidates went at it for the first time tonight, with the Bruins’
Dougie Hamilton and Tampa Bay’s
Cory Conacher playing key roles in the offensive performance of their clubs.
The 19-year-old Hamilton tallied his sixth and seventh assists of the season in the win, and finished the game with a plus-1 rating in an effective 10:00 of time-on-ice.
On the other bench, the (oddly similar to St. Louis) Conacher chimed in with his sixth goal of the season, good for his 15th point in 16 games this year. On top of his offensive contributions to the offensively loaded Bolts forward core, the 23-year-old rookie outta Burlington, Ont. finished with two of the Lightning’s 10 blocked shots on the night, and was constantly keeping the B’s defense on edge with his tremendously explosive speed.
Of the two, just who’s more likely to find themselves as one of the finalists for the 2013 Calder? Well, it’s really no contest as despite his adoration in Boston, Conacher sits as one of the more impressive stories in the National Hockey League in 2013, and has the tools (and trust) of his coach to continue producing at an unbelievable pace.
Top-six finally spreads scoring out for Julien and the B’s
You’ve heard me scream about the Bruins’ lack of their once famed even scoring up-and-down the lineup. But tonight, my goodness, it’s as if they read this blog.
(I know they don’t. You probably don’t even read this blog.)
While the Bruins got all four of their goals from top-six forwards, the Bruins’ ability to throw two incredibly fluid scoring lines out there without question energized the slumping third line, leaving the
Chris Kelly line in a tremendous position to capitalize on a gassed Tampa defense, and generate about a dozen chances. Despite finishing the game with little to nothing to show for their efforts, the Kelly line had a tremendous night when it came to pushing the Bolts deep into their own zone, and paved the way for the top-six to work their magic.
It was the classic two-way street for this offense. And that, my friends, if it lasts, is what’s going to keep this team atop the East in March.
If not, well, I don’t have to tell you what happens, ‘cause you’ll see (and hate it).
Is Lightning’s model sustainable for playoff success?
When it comes to the Lightning’s formula for success in 2013, it’s a weird mix of skill and size. And when I say ‘weird’, I honestly mean it in every sense of the word. It’s weird that the Lightning have such a plethora of undersized scorers that can get to the dirtier areas of the rink and score at will, and it’s weird that their defense (and goaltender) seemingly have such a tremendous size advantage over the opposition.. yet can’t defend or tend the nets that well.
But what I find to be the weirdest of the weird is that I have no clue what to think of the Tampa Bay makeup come playoff time. Is this a model that’s built to win in the postseason?
Well, if recent history and play in 2013 tells us anything, not really.
The Bolts are allowing the eighth most shots per game in the entire NHL (30.9), and the 24-year-old Lindback has proved to be wickedly under-prepared for the role of full-time starter, with an .895 save-percentage, the 32nd best in the league.
Yet, as previously mentioned, the Bolts can score. And quite well, may I add.
However, as anybody can tell you, scoring tends to decrease in the postseason due to a block-everything-with-your-face and literally hit-everything-that-moves attitude that teams have adopted since seeing the Bruins and Kings batter their way to Cup victories in 2011 and 2012. While boring, it’s become the way of the NHL when we get past the 82 -- I mean 48 -- game mark of the season.
Oh, and the Lightning’s power-play, which is currently connecting at a 24.2 percent success rate (5th best in the NHL) through 16, seems unlikely to be given such a chance come playoff time, as refs become reluctant to blow the whistle, even if you’re averaging over four power-plays a game throughout the regular season.
Pushing themselves to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in Guy Boucher’s only playoff run with the club, back in 2011, it’s clear that the Bolts have the mental makeup for a deep run, but the difference may come in net, as Anders Lindback has yet to prove to be the brickwall that
Dwayne Roloson (somehow) was in 2011.
Horrible ice, even more horrible schedule
Following the victory in Tampa, numerous Bruins and even
Claude Julien remarked about the quality of the ice at the Forum. To dance around the subject, it’s not exactly ideal.
But here’s a bigger gripe: Six games in 20 days. Then 19 games in 35 days.
That’s what the Bruins have to look forward to.
Condensed schedule? How about nonsensical schedule. What an absolute trainwreck.
Get your icepacks ready.
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