The Boston Bruins are a dominant team. That much was made clear on Saturday night, as they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 5-0. Right from the opening period puck drop, the Lightning were unable to compete with what can only be described as a superior opponent.

In what turned out to be a fairly scrappy affair, the Bruins got the offense started early and didn’t take their foot off the gas. Just over one minute into the game, David Krejci went to the net and sent the puck past Ben Bishop for his first of the season. It wouldn’t be true to say that the Lightning lost the game at that point, but Krejci’s goal sure did hurt.

The Bruins held on to their one goal lead for the rest of the first period, and managed to keep the Lightning’s attackers at bay. The Bolts’ big guns, in particular, were unusually quiet. Credit the Bruins for keeping Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and every other Lightning player at bay for sixty minutes; that’s not always an easy task.

Adam McQuaid doubled the Bruins lead just less than five minutes into the second period. From there, things absolutely fell apart for the Lightning. After failing to convert on a power-play opportunity midway through the frame, the Bolts allowed two quick goals (55 seconds apart) to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead prior to the second intermission. Game. Set. Match.

Jon Cooper elected to pull Ben Bishop after the fourth goal, and essentially raised a big white flag in the process. Unfortunately, things didn’t get any better. Shawn Thornton beat Anders Lindback just thirty-four seconds into the final period to give the Bruins their 5-0 cushion. As Cooper said after the game, the only good thing about Saturday night was the National Anthem.

This is an especially short post-game blog for one reason, and one reason only. Nothing really needs to be said about what transpired on Saturday night. The guys in the locker-room know things need to be better, the coaching staff knows that things need to be better, and the fans know that things need to be better. Luckily, we’ve all seen that this team can be better.

While Saturday’s loss was ugly and disappointing in a lot of ways, it’s important to remember that it was one game. There are eighty-two games on the schedule. Losses happen. The team now has a few days off before the Chicago Blackhawks show up at the Forum on Thursday night. After stealing a win at the United Center just a few games ago, the Lightning will be looking to go two-for-two against the 2013 Stanley Cup champions.

Rather than act like the world is ending, let’s just prepare for a big game on Thursday.

As always, thanks for reading.

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