Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
The Tampa Bay Lightning dropped a 4-3 decision to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden last night. While the final score looks close, the game really wasn’t. Boston was in control for most of the evening, and ultimately walked out of the building with the victory they deserved.
Although they did eventually lose the game, it was Tampa that opened the scoring. Steven Stamkos scored his 24th of the season at 9:23 of the first period to give his team the 1-0 lead. Stamkos drove the Boston net just as he did in November of 2013. The difference this time was that he walked away and celebrated a goal with his teammates.
That lead held up until Brad Marchand scored his 12th of the year at 16:42 of the first to knot things at one. With a delayed penalty to the Bolts on its way, Marchand was left largely uncovered and was thus able to one-time the puck past Ben Bishop from a wide angle.
The game was far from over at that point.
Like he’s done on so many occasions over the course of his Lightning career, Steven Stamkos scored a big goal for the Lightning at a key time. Midway through the second period, with his team locked in a tie game, the captain took a nifty Ondrej Palat feed and sniped his 25th of the year and second of the game past Tuukka Rask. It was a perfect shot for Stamkos, who continues to heat up with each passing day.
Unfortunately for Tampa, momentum swung heavily in Boston’s favor after that Stamkos goal. Before the second period buzzer rang, David Pastrnak scored a beautiful goal to tie things up at two. Milan Lucic followed that up by assisting on an Anton Stralman own-goal to put the Bruins up 3-2 with only 20 minutes remaining.
Rather than enter that third period with renewed focus and enthusiasm, the Lightning fell apart. Maybe it’s because they were tired. Maybe it’s because they were dealing with some fairly significant holes in the lineup. This blogger has no idea. What we do know is that Boston took a stranglehold on the contest.
Just 1:30 into the third, David Pastrnak scored his second of the game to put his team up 4-2. That was it for the Bolts, who barely managed to test Rask in the final frame.
Ryan Callahan managed to tip home his 14th of the year at 14:18, but it was too little, too late. The Lightning were done.
Because of the extracurricular activities that took place in that final stanza, including a shady punch to Cedric Paquette’s face courtesy of Zdeno Chara, people seem to be ignoring the fact that the Lightning were outplayed, and outplayed badly.
Sure, the Bruins got a little bit dirty at the end. Take that Chara punch, for example. Was it necessary? No. Was punching Paquette the only way for Chara to keep his team in the game? No.
Even so, in hindsight, Paquette probably should have stayed away from the giant. If he hadn’t given the giant a chance to punch him, the giant wouldn’t have punched him. But, what’s done is done. Don’t let any of that, or Jack Edwards’s commentary (bleh!), distract you from the reality that the Bolts were outmatched by a team that is below them in the standings. Boston's antics weren't consequential.
It’s true the Bruins have taken a mammoth step back this year, but it’s still clear that the Bolts have issues with that team.
While these back-to-back losses hurt, the Bolts are set to return home to a fairly friendly schedule. Their next three games are against Edmonton, Colorado, and Vancouver. The schedule-maker is dishing up exactly what the doctor ordered. The team just has to go out and perform like we all know it can.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.