By: Andrew Bluestein | Follow Me On Twitter / X @adbblue
The Boston Bruins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 at TD Garden on Tuesday night. The game was closer than the score indicated, and their goaltender, Jeremy Swayman, made 43 saves in the victory.
It was a busy day for the Black and Gold, with the team making multiple roster transactions, including placing Charlie McAvoy and Mark Kastelic on IR. Therefore, they were without the two players for this divisional tilt.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter as guys like Vinni Lettieri and Matt Poitras, who got recalled from AHL affiliate Providence, stepped up. Also recalled was defenseman and Franklin, MA native Michael Callahan, who made his NHL debut. The 25-year-old touched on what it meant to him. “Wearing the jersey and being from here, it means a lot to me and to my family too.”
First Period
After a slow start to the game, the Bruins got the first-grade A scoring chance, and they cashed in. Poitras jumped out of the gate and made a great feed on a two-on-one to Trent Frederic, who tapped it home. That gave Boston a 1-0 lead.
The Black and Gold then extended their lead just before the halfway point of the opening frame. Parker Wotherspoon ripped home his first NHL goal, walking in from the left point. David Pastrnak made a great play, faking a shot and dishing it over to Wotherspoon, who made it 2-0. Following the win, the blueliner remained humble. “It means a lot, but I’m just happy we won.”
The physicality was front and center, with both teams taking the body frequently and finishing their hits. In his first game with the Bruins this season, Lettieri drew a hooking penalty with 1:03 left. It was a great hustle play, and the Bruins started the second period on the power play.
Second Period
Boston had 0:57 remaining on the man advantage to start the middle stanza, but they did not capitalize. However, shortly after the Tampa Bay penalty expired, Brad Marchand rifled a wrist shot top shelf over the shoulder of Andrei Vasilevskiy. With the goal, the Bruins captain gave his team a 3-0 lead. Tempers began to flare after a post-whistle scrum in front of Swayman, resulting in Nikita Zadorov and Mitchell Chaffee getting 2:00 each for roughing.
The two teams played four-on-four, and Boston took advantage of the extra space. After Andrew Peeke took the puck to the net, Pavel Zacha set up Pastrnak for his 20th goal of the season to make it 4-0. Fisticuffs occurred soon after between Frederic and Emil Lilleberg, which was a clear advantage for Frederic.
Tampa got on the board on a deflection in front by Conor Geekie, set up by a Victor Headman point shot. That made the score 4-1. The lighting then cut the lead in half to 4-2 after a late Brandon Carlo turnover in the defensive zone led to a Headman goal.
Third Period
Another scrap occurred just 0:21 into the final frame, with Zadorov dropping the gloves with Erik Cernak, and the big Bruins defenseman got the quick takedown. After mostly uneventful hockey, up until 10:37 left, Darren Raddysh put a heavy hit on Cole Koepke.
They reviewed the play for a 5:00 major but ultimately ruled there was no penalty on the play. The Lightning finally got their first power play with 3:33 left, but it didn’t matter.
Peeke scored his first as a Bruin, shooting for the empty net right off the ensuing faceoff, and it went clean in for a 5-2 lead. Seconds later, Zacha put one in the empty net from the neutral zone, making it 6-2 to put a bow on it. Not the best performance by the Bruins, but it was good enough and marks the second win in a row after dropping six straight.
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