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Photo Courtesy Of NHL.com


By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Home: Tampa Bay Lightning (15-11-3)
Away: Boston Bruins (20-6-6)

Tampa Bay’s Lineup

Forwards

Palat-Point-Kucherov
Killorn-Cirelli-Stamkos
Maroon-Paquette-Gourde
Verhaeghe-Stephens-Joseph

Defense

Hedman-Rutta
McDonagh-Cernak
Sergachev-Shattenkirk

Goalies

Vasilevskiy
McElhinney

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Krejci-Ritchie
Bjork-Coyle-Heinen
Nordstrom-Kuraly-Wagner

Defense

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Moore-Grzelcyk

Goalies

Rask
Halak

First Period

Just seconds into the game, Zdeno Chara dropped the gloves with Pat Maroon to attempt to get the B’s going and try to take an early lead. The Bruins did just that as Patrice Bergeron stuffed home a rebound just under four minutes into the game.

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The Bruins did a great job keeping possession in the offensive zone as they looked to extend their lead. Tuukka Rask did a solid job keeping the Lightning at bay although the defense did an equally solid job limiting the scoring opportunities. With 7:16 left in the period, John Moore took a tripping penalty as Tampa Bay looked to even the score. Boston killed off the man advantage as Rask made a number of key stops. Both teams continued to be quite physical as the period drew to a close.
Score: 1-0 Bruins

Second Period

The Bruins would go to their first power play early in the second period as they looked to extend their lead. The Lightning killed off the penalty as the B’s failed to get any solid scoring chances. Penalties to Matt Grzelcyk and Kevin Shattenkirk resulted in a four on four with 15 minutes left in the period. Boston continued to get pucks to the net but Andrei Vasilevskiy continued to come up with timely saves. The Bruins continued to be physical with the Lightning in the middle period as they tried to hunker down defensively.
Moore took another tripping penalty with seven minutes left in the second period as Tampa Bay got a golden opportunity to tie the game. Just five seconds into the man advantage, Steven Stamkos ripped a shot past Rask to tie it.

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Tampa Bay had a huge surge after the goal as they stormed the Boston end looking for another goal but Rask continued to have a strong game which kept it tied.
Score: Tied 1-1

Third Period

The Bruins were forced to kill a penalty early in the final period as Sean Kuraly was called for hooking and the Lightning got a great chance to take the lead. Brayden Point gave Tampa Bay the lead on the man advantage with a quick release from the low slot that beat Rask and the B’s defense.

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The Bruins started to get some good attacking zone rhythm toward the midway point of the period as they looked to cut into the lead. The Bruins would get an opportunity to draw even as they picked up a power play with 9:32 remaining. The Lightning killed off the penalty as the Bruins again failed to do much of anything on the man advantage. Stamkos buried his second of the game after a turnover in the Bruins defensive zone with under five minutes to go, giving Tampa Bay a two goal lead.

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The Bruins cut the lead in half about two minutes later as Moore buried a loose puck in front of the net.

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Rask would head to the Boston bench with two minutes to go as the B’s tried desperately to tie the game and force overtime. The Bruins wouldn’t get many great looks at the net as their losing streak reached five games.
Final Score: 3-2 Lightning

Three Stars

First: Stamkos
Second: Vasilevskiy
Third: Rask