Just for the fact that it was Saturday night, I'd give you a pass for missing out on the Bruins-Lightning game. Add in that it occurred at basically the same time as Red Sox-Tigers Game 6 of the ALCS and I understand why few paid attention to the Black and Gold on this night. It was a surprisingly one-sided affair as Boston (5-2-0) beat Tampa Bay (5-3-0) 5-0 at Tampa Bay Times Forum.
After topping the Lightning 3-1 in the opener on October 3 at TD Garden, the B's have outscored them 8-1 in two games. They'll meet twice more: in November and March. I'm sure Tampa Bay will be happy to play other teams since they are 5-1-0 against clubs not named the Bruins so far this season.
Boston played its best game (yes I know they are seven games in) thanks to a complete effort from the entire team: goals from all four lines and a defenseman while Tuukka Rask (23 saves) picked up his first shutout of the season. Tampa Bay hinted at this being a blowout as they allowed a goal 1:32 into the proceedings. David Krejci redirected a pass by Milan Lucic for his first goal of the season. Jarome Iginla had the second assist.
The B's opened it up in the second period with three goals, their top 20 minutes of the season. Adam McQuaid scored on a wrister from the point that was deflected by a Lightning for his first goal of the season at 4:37. Boston hit Tampa Bay with a pair of goals 55 seconds apart late in the second which turned this into a laugher and gave us more liberal time to check out the Red Sox game.
Patrice Bergeron finished off a pretty rush by Reilly Smith and Loui Eriksson at 14:52 for his second goal of the season. Believe it or not, Chris Kelly already matched his goal total from last season (3) when he scored tonight from Brad Marchand and crazy Carl Soderberg. That signaled the end for Ben Bishop who was pulled in favor of the immortal Anders Lindback.
Other than a few fights, the Lightning never really pushed back or forced Rask to make too many difficult stops. Given their abundance of offensive talent, that was strange. Another surprising element was Shawn Thornton's snipe 34 seconds into the third period. Daniel Paille assisted on his first goal of the season.
If Boston brings this same effort on Wednesday in Buffalo (8, NBCSN), they could honestly beat the Sabres (1-8-1) by double-digits. I know that isn't realistic but the B's looked that good this evening while the Sabres are that hopeless. Haha should be fun!
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