On Wednesday in Tampa Bay, the Bruins were reminded that trying to catch up in the game is not a good strategy.
The Bruins had their best win of the season on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers when they came back from three different deficits. But on Wednesday, the Bruins never took the lead and the Lightning were not as generous as the Panthers. Brayden Point’s goal in the second period was enough for the Bolts to win 3-1 at Amalie Arena.
The Bruins entered the third period behind by a goal but their chances were limited until Nikita Kucherov scored an easy empty-netter for the Lightning, who finished the game impressively.
Even though the Bruins were playing the second game in two nights, it was not the follow-up they would have liked after such an emotional win in Sunrise.
For the second consecutive night, the Bruins allowed the first goal, this time by Mitchell Chaffee at 10:06 of the first period.
During a quick Tampa reload in the neutral zone, Mikey Eyssimont passed to Nick Paul along the right wing just inside the blue line. Brandon Carlo tried to help Parker Wotherspoon but could not prevent Paul’s pass from reaching Chaffee, who had moved behind James van Riemsdyk. Van Riemsdyk, back in the lineup for Jakub Lauko after being scratched against the Panthers, seemed to have had Chaffee’s stick held from behind, but Chaffee managed to free it and shoot quickly over Linus Ullmark’s shoulder.
Van Riemsdyk then received a penalty in the offensive zone, giving the NHL’s most dangerous power-play unit a chance. However, the Bruins were able to kill it off without much drama and then finally went on the attack.
They had several close calls, including a shot by Charlie McAvoy that hit the post and a 3-on-1 play where Charlie Coyle opted for a pass instead of taking a good shot.
But the Bruins equalized at 17:11 through a good forecheck by David Pastrnak, who forced Matt Dumba to drop a pass for no one behind his net. Pavel Zacha got to the puck first and passed to Danton Heinen in the right circle. Falling away from the net, Heinen shot and beat Andrei Vasilevskiiy to level the score with his 15th goal of the season.
As the Bruins took control of the game, the Lightning’s Tanner Jeannot tried to disrupt it. He hit Hampus Lindholm hard along the boards and Trent Frederic stepped in. They fought, but Jeannot landed a good uppercut that cut Frederic. After that, Frederic just had to hold on until he could go for treatment.
The Lightning dominated the start of the second period, not allowing any scoring opportunities for the Bruins until they took the lead again. On a strong shift from the Lightning, Point restored Tampa's lead at 6:50. Emil Lilleberg’s shot was blocked and went behind the net, where Point picked it up. With Ullmark leaning to his left, Point went behind the net and beat the goalie and defenseman Andrew Peeke to the far post with a wraparound, giving Tampa a 2-1 advantage.
The B’s were not as good as the other team for most of the second period, but they made a strong effort late in the period and Pastrnak caused Duclair to get a penalty on a powerful rush to the net with 1:40 left. However, they were not able to score before the end of the period.
Even though the B’s had a chance to win, they still needed to have a better period in the third if they wanted to get any points from this game.
At 6:02 of the third period, it seemed like the Bolt had gotten a two-goal lead when Steven Stamkos scored after a shot was blocked. However, the B’s questioned if it was offside, and after a fairly long review, it was found that Anthony Cirelli just barely got the puck over the line before.
This gave the B’s a new opportunity, but they were unable to do anything with it.