The B's Rallied From Two Goals Down, Only To Lose Gm 4 in OT After Blowing a Third Period Lead

To beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2018 playoff game, it requires a (cliche alert!) full 60-minute effort or in this case even longer than that. Boston did everything they could to tie up their series at two tonight at TD Garden but they still fell short as Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Girardi re-directed a pass from Harvard's Alex Killorn at 3:18 for a bitter 4-3 overtime victory. The Lightning took a commanding 3-1 series lead with the chance to end things on Sunday afternoon (3, NBC) at Amalie Arena. The B's were plagued by another atrocious start on their home ice-spotting Tampa a 2-0 lead less than halfway through the first period-but unlike Game 3, they were able to recover from that.

For the first time since Game 1, Boston actually led for a little while (6:20). Unfortunately, Tampa Bay wasn't a fan of that as Steven Stamkos tied it at three with a wicked one-timer at 12:56 of the third period. His third goal of the playoffs (2nd of the series/1st non-ENG) was assisted by J.T. Miller. The Bruins actually had a few nice shifts to start their first overtime session of the playoffs but they weren't able to cash any of them in. Like the rest of the Lightning goals in Game 4, Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask (24 saves) couldn't do much to stop Girardi's goal. Killorn took the puck down the right side then threw a backhander in front of Boston's net where it deflected off Brian Gionta (no clue why he had a shift that early in OT) and then Girardi got his stick on it. Yanni Gourde had the second assist on Girardi's game-winning goal, extending his point streak to four games.

I wish I could pinpoint a reason why the B's got off to such miserable starts in Games 3 and 4, my best rationale is that they were too tight. Whatever the case may be, the Lightning are ready to go every time so you have to match that or else your season will be over on Sunday night. Rick Nash's turnover led to Brayden Point skating in and splitting both Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy (how does that happen?) before beating Rask for his third goal of the postseason. Riley Nash was a healthy scratch along with Tommy Wingels and Danton Heinen, meaning that Ryan Donato, Gionta and Tim Schaller were in the lineup for Game 4. Rick's rough first period continued when he was called for a tripping penalty and then Chara put the puck over the glass in his own end for delay of game. Tampa Bay had a two-man advantage for 19 seconds which the Bruins were able to weather but they could do nothing to stop Nikita Kucherov's one-timer from Victor Hedman (4-game point streak) and Stamkos at 9:53.

It became a special teams game and Boston's top-ranked power play (in the playoffs) did its job by going 2-for-4. Their comeback fittingly began with a power play goal from David Pastrnak (5-game point streak) at 15:28 of the first period. It was an amazing bit of hand-eye coordination by Pasta since he was able to hit a floating puck out of mid-air before it dropped back to the ice. His sixth goal of the playoffs was assisted by Torey Krug and Brad Marchand (17th multiple-point playoff game). Trailing 2-1 after the first period, the B's were quickly able to tie it at two early in the second thanks to a power play goal by Patrice Bergeron (5-game point streak). His fifth goal of the postseason was assisted by Krug (7th career multiple-point playoff game).

The Bruins grabbed that 3-2 lead in the third period thanks to a brilliant play by their two best players: Marchand went up ice while they were shorthanded and threaded a pass to Bergeron (20th multiple-point playoff game) between two Lightning defenders that the center was able to deflect in for a beautiful goal. Andrei Vasilevskiy (29 saves) had to be stunned since he hadn't seen his team trail in either Game 2 or 3. I hate to harp on the officials-who have been consistently awful all series-but that particular goal felt like some sort of justice for the Black and Gold since they were only shorthanded because of a bogus hooking call on Noel Acciari (big, strong Hedman flopped like an Italian soccer player). After that, basically everything went wrong for the B's as Krug appeared to suffer a serious ankle (or foot) injury after crashing into the boards and a no-call on Kucherov holding McAvoy which led to the Stamkos tying tally set the stage for the first ever playoff overtime game between these clubs.

So here we are, Krug left the Garden on crutches and in a walking boot therefore I doubt that he'll be available on Sunday. Get ready for Nick Holden trying to keep Boston's season alive! For real though, after such an unexpectedly fun and successful campaign for the Bruins, it would be a shame to see it end in five games in Tampa Bay. If I know the B's, I bet that they find a way to get it done in Game 5 only to return to TD Garden and lose in Game 6. Who knows? As you would expect, the numbers heading into Sunday are nothing but grim if you are a fan of Boston: they are 0-22 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail 3-1 and 7-15 in Game 5s in which they trail in a series 3-1. Conversely, Tampa Bay's small sample size is pretty solid: they are 4-0 in best-of-seven series when they lead 3-1 and 3-1 in Game 5s when leading a series 3-1. Boston is 1-5 when they allow the first goal this postseason while Tampa Bay is 6-1 when they score first so clearly whichever team strikes first on Sunday will likely be a key factor.

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Tampa Bay Jumps Out to Early 2-0 Lead & Never Look Back En Route to an Easy 4-1 Win In Game 3

To state the obvious: the Lightning are not the Maple Leafs. Nope, not one bit. After Boston managed to come away with a 6-2 victory in Game 1 on Saturday at Tampa Bay, the Lightning bounced back with a 4-2 win at Amalie Arena on Monday. As the series shifted to TD Garden, Tampa continued to be the aggressor as they scored twice in the first 3:19 of Game 3 to skate away with a 4-1 win and 2-1 series lead. Like an older brother to a younger brother, the Lightning completely smothered the Bruins in almost every facet of the contest that mattered: earning four more power plays (5-1) and recording eight more shots on goal (37-29).

This sets up what is basically a must-win for the B's on Friday (7, NBCSN) since it's hard to fathom that they could beat the Lightning three games in a row after what we've seen out of Tampa Bay in the past two tilts. Of course, it's hard to beat anybody in the playoffs when you combine for three goals in two games. The Tuukka Rask (33 saves) haters should take a night off since this wasn't his fault at all, in fact it could have been much worse since he made a bunch of saves when the outcome was still to be decided. Tampa's goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy hasn't looked exactly picturesque in this series, but it's tough to argue with his results lately.

It was the first day of 2018 that felt like summer with temperatures around New England well into the 80s so you could excuse some of the Bruins' fans for showing up a few minutes late. The Lightning didn't take pity on us poor untanned Northerners as they scored not one but two goals before Boston could blink. Boston rookie defenseman Matt Grzelcyk made a mistake on a puck flipped into his defensive zone and Tyler Johnson was able to feed Ondrej Palat for an easy goal at 1:47. Palat's third of the postseason was also assisted by Anton Stralman. Giving up the first goal is one thing but another right on top of it is unforgivable, especially on home ice. Palat bagged another at 3:19 by deftly tipping in a shot from Victor Hedman. The ghost of Dan Girardi had his first assist of the playoffs on Palat's third goal in the last two games (2 periods to be exact).

The only time that Boston was really in it was for a brief few minutes late in the first period: they converted their only power play opportunity in only 29 seconds as Patrice Bergeron banged in a sweet one-handed pass from David Pastrnak. Brad Marchand had the second assist on Bergeron's fourth goal of the postseason which cut Tampa Bay's lead to 2-1. The Bruins defense let Rask and the rest of the club down on the third goal as rookie Anthony Cirelli was able to take not one (whiffed), not two (saved by Rask) but three shots that understandably were too much to survive in such a fast sequence. Cirelli's first career playoff goal was assisted by fellow rookie Yanni Gourde and Ryan McDonagh.

You waited for the Black and Gold to make a push in the second but they didn't. David Backes fought Cedric Paquette after Tampa Bay's resident wannabe tough guy jumped Backes who had had boarded Girardi. Paquette ended up with a 10-minute misconduct but that hardly mattered since he is an irrelevant buffoon. The scary part for the Bruins is that the Lightning two best players (and 2 of the top forwards in the NHL)-Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos-have been really quiet. Stamkos got an empty-netter with 41.2 seconds left in regulation, only his second goal of the postseason and amazingly, the first point of the series for Tampa's beastly top line.

To win Game 4 and get back in this series, Boston has to shoot way better than they did in Game 3. Tonight they had a whopping 19 shots blocked and if that wasn't bad enough, they missed the net with another 17 shots. This evening, Tommy Wingels was inserted on the fourth line for Tim Schaller but he didn't do anything notable (-1 in 11:24 with 1 shot on goal, 5 hits and 1 blocked shot). Since the Bruins have scored only three goals in the past two games (with just 1 from a forward), I would give rookie Ryan Donato another chance because putting the puck in the net is his specialty. Adam McQuaid wasn't hurt but only skated 9:46 in Game 3 so perhaps he could be scratched for Nick Holden, not that he would likely change the dynamics of this matchup.

As you can imagine, the numbers don't look great for the B's heading into Game 4: they are 8-23 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail a series 2-1 and they are 16-15 in Game 4s when trailing a series 2-1. The Lightning are 5-3 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead a series 2-1 but they are 3-5 in Game 4s when leading a series 2-1. The simple remedy for the Bruins appears to be a fast start in Game 4: put some actual pressure on the Lightning and make them play from behind while the Garden goes bananas. Boston's fans wanted something to cheer about tonight (with Pedro Martinez and Bobby Orr in the house) but the B's hardly gave them anything to truly appreciate and savor.

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