usa_today_10746426.0Photo Courtesy Of SB Nation

By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

Home: Boston Bruins (49-23-9)

Away: Tampa Bay Lightning (61-16-4)

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

DeBrusk-Krejci-Pastrnak

Johansson-Coyle-Senyshyn

Blidh-Frederic-Backes

Heinen-Nordstrom-Kuhlman

Defense

Chara-McAvoy

Clifton-Grzelcyk

Lauzon-Kampfer

Goalies

Rask

Halak

Tampa Bay’s Lineup

Forwards

Gourde-Stamkos-Kucherov

Palat-Johnson-Joseph

Killorn-Cirelli-Callahan

Erne-Martel-Miller

Defense

Coburn-Girardi

McDonagh-Cernak

Gaunce-Rutta

Goalies

Pasquale

Vasilevskiy

First Period

Prior to puck drop, the Bruins organization handed out a bevy of regular season awards to celebrate another successful season in Boston.

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Neither team was too aggressive in the early going, undoubtedly trying to avoid any injuries and not expend too much energy. Scoring chances were few and far between in the opening period as neither team could get consistently good shift in the opponents zone. The Bruins started to get an attacking zone rhythm in the middle stages of the period thanks to a solid shift by the third line. Tuukka Rask made a nice stop on Mathieu Joseph to keep the game scoreless with about 10 minutes left in the period.

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The B’s seemed to be the more aggressive team in terms of scoring chances in the first period as they strung together a couple great offensive shifts. A nice passing sequence by the Bruins resulted in David Krejci knocking home a loose puck in front to give Boston the lead.

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The Bruins continued to be quick to the puck and continued to get chances in the offensive zone as they looked to extend their lead. Danton Heinen doubled the Boston lead with just 19 seconds left in the period on a beautiful shot past Pasquale.

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Score: 2-0 Bruins

Second Period

The Bruins went to the penalty kill as Joakim Nordstrom slashed Steven Stamkos about three minutes into the period as the Lightning looked to get back into it. Erik Cernak cut the lead in half with a dart of a shot past Rask on the man advantage.

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The Bruins seemed to respond well to the Lighting goal as they got their skating legs back under them. The B’s continued to be very hungry on the puck toward the midway point of the game as the looked to assert control. The Lightning looked a lot more comfortable handling the puck in the second period with a lot more noticeably crisp passes. The Bruins would head to their first power play as Nordstrom was hit by a high stick with over seven minutes remaining in the period.

After a bad turnover in the offensive zone, Stamkos skated in on a breakaway that tied the game as the Bruins gave up yet another shorthanded goal on the season.

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The Lightning killed off the Boston power play despite some good puck movement by the B’s. Pasquale continued to have a strong game with a couple huge saves late in the second period. Anthony Cirelli buried a shot in the slot with about three minutes left in the period to give Tampa their first lead of the game.

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The Bruins challenged the goal for goalie interference but unfortunately to no avail. After Krejci was hit hard by Joseph, David Pastrnak took a penalty for roughing with just over two minutes left. The B’s killed it off and kept it a one goal game.

Score: 3-2 Lightning

Third Period

Just 53 seconds into the period, Nikita Kucherov made an incredible individual play in the offensive zone to double the Tampa Bay advantage.

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The Bruins continued to get some good scoring chances in the final period as they moved the puck pretty well in the offensive and neutral zones. The B’s would go to the man advantage with under fifteen minutes remaining in the game as Tyler Johnson was called for tripping. Tampa Bay killed off the penalty despite the Bruins getting some great opportunities.

The game started to get very nasty towards the end of the period as both team began to throw their weight around. Both Joseph and David Backes would go to the box for roughing following a scrum in front of the Tampa Bay bench. Matt Grzelcyk found the back of the net on the ensuing four on four to cut the deficit to one on a nice wrist shot.

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Just mere seconds after the goal, Brayden Coburn somehow found the net on a long wrist shot as Tampa Bay regained their two goal advantage.

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The Bruins pulled the goalie with under three minutes to go as they tried desperately to get back into the game. Johnson ended it with an empty net goal with 1:26 to go.

Final Score: 6-3 Lightning

Three Stars Of The Regular Season

First Star: Brad Marchand. The feisty winger had his best career season, surpassing 100 points for the first time and being the best offensive player on the team all year long.

Second Star: Patrice Bergeron. Amazingly, Bergeron set a career high in points this season despite missing a decent chunk of the year. He continues to impress every single season.

Third Star: Krejci. Despite a revolving door of winger at certain moments, the veteran center tied a career high in points and looked to be at his very best at multiple times of the year.

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