Nathan Horton had two goals 24 hours after being publicly called out by B's head coach Claude Julien but it wasn't enough as the Bruins dropped a tough one 5-3 to the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning.
Fresh off a shootout win against the Panthers last night, the Bruins knew they would have their hands full with an underachieving, yet supremely skilled Lightning team. Before the game, Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley alluded to how hard it is to sweep the two games in Florida each season. Unfortunately, their words would be prophetic to Bruins fans.
The B's showed some grit tonight, erasing three separate one-goal deficits but their shoddy defensive play, turnovers and spotty goaltending from Tim Thomas proved to be their undoing.
The first period was some of the sloppiest hockey I have seen from the Bruins this year. Chalk it up to the games in back-to-back nights but I think this team is better than that.
Vincent Lecavalier (18th of the season) put the Lightning on top in the first, as a pass from Matt Gilroy was broken up by David Krejci, leading to a goalmouth scramble that saw the Lightning captain catch Thomas out of position and find the back of the net.
Horton began his climb out of the dog house early in the second period. Horton intercepted a pass around the boards, attacked the net, found his own rebound and beat Mathieu Garon on a sprawling backhand.
Boston found themselves in a bad situation later in the frame, as Johnny Boychuck was caught in a 3-on-1 rush featuring Martin St. Louis, Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos. Boychuck laid out and Stamkos' shot deflected off of his skate and nearly beat Thomas, who thanks to the post was able to corral the puck.
Tampa made up for that opportunity shortly after, as Thomas dove out of the crease to make a save on Steve Downie but was helpless to stop Tom Pyatt from hammering home his fifth of the year.
The Bruins then tied the game 2-2 thanks to another goal from Horton, boosting his season total to 16.
Both teams exchanged quality scoring chances as Thomas robbed Teddy Purcell with five seconds left in the second period, keeping the game tied. Daniel Paille had a shorthanded breakaway attempt that grazed the crossbar. No worries though, as he would later score on a second shorthanded breakaway to tie the game after Ryan Malone gave Tampa a 3-2 lead.
The play picked up near the end of the third but the Bruins would find themselves on the short end of the stick in this one, as Dominic Moore connected with a quick slapshot that beat Thomas high glove side to give the Lightning the win.
Stamkos added his 31st goal of the year on an absolute hail mary of an empty netter.
Boston (29-13-1) has a day off tomorrow before flying to New Jersey to meet up with the Devils on Thursday night.
*Game Notes*
* Save the crap about the Lightning, their record and losing streak. Any team with Stamkos, Lecavalier and St. Louis can get it done any given night in the NHL. And yes, I almost threw up when they had that 3-on-1.
* Last night, I mentioned that the crowd was at the very least, 50-50 Bruins. I have to give the Lightning fans credit tonight, as they showed up and did their best to not turn this game into another faux home game for the Bruins. I just hope their feelings aren't still hurt from those mean advertisements from the playoffs last season.
* Given Julien's comments regarding Horton after last night's game, I was looking for both him and Lucic to have a bounce back game. Horton obviously looked good with two goals but Lucic was again invisible for long stretches, recording only two shots on goal in over 15 minutes of ice time.
* Clearly, the Bruins need to tighten up before their big games against the Rangers on Saturday and the Flyers on Sunday. Honestly, it all starts with their defense. Zdeno Chara and Joe Corvo looked sluggish with the puck tonight and out of position at times. I do think Boychuk and Dennis Seidenberg played well however.
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