We knew that one way or another, the Bruins and the Lightning were on a collision course this postseason. While it's a shame that we aren't talking about the Eastern Conference Finals here-since I firmly believe that they are the two top teams in the East-we won't dwell on that since this should be a fantastic series no matter what. Boston took Game 1 by a final score of 3-2 this evening in Toronto as they got out to a three-goal lead before some sketchy moments in the end clinging to that one-goal advantage. It was a fair result though because they were the better club for most of the contest, led by goaltender Jaroslav Halak (35 saves) who improved to 4-0 since Tuukka Rask went home.
This is the only the third time that Boston and Tampa Bay have met in the playoffs with the B's winning that epic seven game ECF series in 2011 on their way to the Stanley Cup and the Lightning paying them back years later (2018) with a gentleman's sweep (5 sad games). Tampa's captain and superstar center Steven Stamkos has been out since March following core surgery so as you would expect, his absence has left an impossible-to-fill void in the Lightning's lineup. I think not having Stamkos is most apparent on their power play where Tampa was 0-for-3 tonight, tacked onto the Columbus series that makes them 0-for-13 after the round-robin. Oof.
The best period of the tilt for the Black and Gold came in the first where Boston outshot Tampa Bay 15-10 and they were rewarded with a late tally by Charlie Coyle. Playoff Krejci is a thing so I believe that Playoff Coyle should similarly follow suit because he becomes another player when the games matter most, as we saw last postseason. For the second time in these playoffs, Coyle showed off his crazy hands (hello ladies!) by knocking a puck out of the air for a goal. This time, it came in the form of a deft tip from Brandon Carlo's shot at 18:52. Brad Marchand added the second assist on Coyle's third goal of the playoffs.
Unlike the Lightning, Boston's power play has quietly been getting into gear since an ominous start against Carolina. They were only 1-for-3 this evening but it was a timely one as David Pastrnak slammed in a one-timer from Krejci (7-game point-streak, Boston's longest in the postseason since Patrice Bergeron in 2014) and Torey Krug (who keeps adding more zeroes to his upcoming contract every game now) for a 2-0 Bruins lead at 4:34 of the second period. This finally appeared to wake Tampa Bay up as they outshot Boston by a whopping 18-7 count in the frame yet they still couldn't find a way to get one past Halak.
Apparently starting and ending periods was an issue all game for the Lightning as once again, they gave up an early goal in the final stanza. Boston's top line made the magic happen as Bergy-the four-time Selke Winner-started the play by stealing the puck by Tampa's goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (28 saves) then feeding it to Pasta who fittingly put some extra sauce on a backhand look to Marchand who didn't hesitate to knock it in. 3-0 Bruins at 1:17 of the third period on Brad's fourth goal of the playoffs. Tampa's All-World defenseman Victor Hedman wouldn't go down like that as he scored a pair of goals (at 8:50 and 18:46 with an extra skater on the ice) to make things rather scary at least from Boston's perspective. Both goals oddly enough deflected off of Charlie McAvoy then past Halak. The first was a weak wrist shot from the point so that has to be stopped no matter what. Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat had the assists on Hedman's first then Kevin Shattenkirk and Tyler Johnson did the honors on the second.
Tampa Bay is bound to play a more complete game on Tuesday night (7, NBCSN) but I also expect Boston to not allow a pair of goals late in the third period. Clearly the difference between the Lightning being down 0-2 in the series versus tied 1-1 is enormous so there is no way they don't come with a full 60-minute effort. Halak outplayed Vasilevskiy so the question is can he do that three additional times? Moreover, does he really have to carry the B's or just not screw things up by allowing real some extra soft goals? All I know for sure is that all hockey fans are in for a treat with these powerhouse clubs facing each other.
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