The Lightning Push The Bruins To The Brink Of Elimination With A Frustrating 3-1 Loss In Game 4

 

    Let's just get this out of the way first: yes Tuukka Rask not being here for his team is a major factor but even with him on the ice, the Lightning would most likely still be in control of this series. After an unexpected day off (thanks to the NHL temporarily pausing the postseason to focus on racial injustice), Tampa Bay resumed its beating of Boston with a 3-1 win in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead. How dire are things for the Bruins after they lost their third straight game? Well, they have never rallied to win a series when they are down 1-3. In that dire situation, they are 0-23 in best-of-7 series. Conversely, the Lightning are perfect at closing things out when they are up 3-1 in a series since they are 5-0 in that favorable spot. Woof. Game 5 is on Monday night (7, NBCSN). 

    Boston's margin for error is so small when they matchup with Tampa right now so needless to say, allowing the first goal and finding themselves down 3-0 in the second period is basically a guaranteed loss before its even over. It's easy to rip Nick Ritchie (12 penalty minutes including a 5-minute major for a boarding penalty that led to the 3rd goal) and Jaroslav Halak (23 saves but his customary whiff on a routine glove save) since they both had outings that they surely would like to forget but I think that overlooks a sputtering Bruins offense that has managed to score two goals total in Games 3 and 4 combined. Is that bad? Their lone goal today came with 12:56 left in regulation as Jake DeBrusk used his sneaky fast release to throw a wrist shot through Andrei Vasilevskiy's (29 saves, 9th win of the postseason) five-hole.

    Too often, Boston's power play (1-for-4) or 5-on-5 for that matter was overpassing or simply not hitting the net when they had some great scoring chances. Brandon Carlo actually ventured forward for a pair of opportunities that were predictably stuffed by Vasilevskiy-one of the NHL's best goaltenders. Meanwhile, David Pastrnak had a game-high six shots on goal but none of them found the back of the net which is not good enough from one of the NHL's top goal-scorers this season-no matter what injury he might have. Nikita Kucherov (2 assists) is having a nice series which is totally on brand but Tampa has to be thrilled with its secret offensive weapon: Ondrej Palat who has two goals today & four already in the series including his current three-game goal-streak. Also, Victor Hedman (game-high 27:09)-who is no doubt on the short list of best defensemen in the league-has four points (3 goals, assist) in these four games including another tally this afternoon.

    It's hard to pinpoint one main reason for Boston's struggles on defense in this latest setback because all three goals came in separate and annoying ways: awful coverage in front of the net, an easy stop that Halak has to make every time and a crazy deflection that ended up behind him. Ugh. Brayden Point's filthy stickhandling made Torey Krug look like a fool but truthfully, all five Bruins on the ice (plus Halak) were too slow to react as he hit Palat with a one-timer that he put in the upper corner of the net. 1-0 Lightning at 8:59 of the first period. Things only got worse from there for the B's as Palat's second goal came at 12:29 of the second period. It was another one-timer, this time from Anthony Cirelli and Tyler Johnson with Halak's invisible glove hand the real hero on the shot that was from distance. Boston had nearly killed all of Ritchie's five-minute major but Hedman's harmless shot from the point deflected off Par Lindholm's skate and floated over Halak but under the crossbar. 3-0 Tampa at 18:04 of the second period. Goodnight everybody! Tyler Johnson and Kucherov had the helpers on the goal that likely ended the Bruins' life in the Toronto bubble for all intents and purposes. 

       DeBrusk's fourth goal of the postseason came at 7:04 of the third period to cut it to 3-1 Lightning but it was far too late to have any real effect on the final outcome. Boston's two BU alums that grew up in Masschusetts (Charlie Coyle and Matt Grzelcyk) had the assists on DeBrusk's smooth finish. The Bruins actually outshot the Lightning 11-6 in the third but that's a tad misleading since Tampa was just trying to escape with their collective health intact. These B's have more than enough pride and professionalism to show up on Monday and put forth another solid effort but frankly, they are cooked. With no Rask, this isn't exactly a fair fight and you can sense the Lightning get more confident with each goal that they score.

    No matter if this series ends in five games, six games or seven, it feels like we're nearing the end of an era for the B's. I'm not really sure how Rask ever shows his face in Boston again let alone plays another game for the Bruins while 43-year-old captain Zdeno Chara seems on the verge of retirement. Last season was awesome up until Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and then this one was great pre-pandemic as they captured the cursed Presidents' Trophy. Since that time, they went 0-3 in the round-robin (after not taking it seriously enough) which pissed away their top seed, they rolled in five games over the still inept Hurricanes and now they are 1-3 vs. Tampa Bay. Which part of that equation looks like an aberration? There are many valuable pieces left on the team but GM Don Sweeney will have some serious alterations to do during the bizarre offseason (Krug will get a serious pay raise either here or elsewhere). Those are all issues for another day though as Tampa Bay (5-0 in Game 5s in a best-of-7 series when leading the series 3-1) gets their first chance to eliminate Boston (7-16 in Game 5s in a best-of-7 series when trailing in the series 1-3) in two nights.

B's Cap Off Shameful Day In The NHL By No-Showing In Gross 7-1 Blowout Gm 3 Loss Vs. TB

 

    At a time like this when our country literally seems to be falling apart more and more everyday due to many factors (the Covid-19 pandemic, racial unrest, senseless killings by police, a disgrace of a President, apocalyptic wildfires and hurricanes bearing down on California and the Gulf Coast respectively, etc.), it's hard to get too worked up about a sporting event. On the same day when the NBA rightfully paused its playoff action in their Orlando bubble, MLS, WNBA and MLB also chose to postpone some of their games but the lillywhite NHL carried on like nothing was happening around them. The easy move was to not play any of their playoff games this evening after what unfolded around them but nope, the Bruins and Lightning played in Toronto while the Avalanche and Stars took the ice later in Edmonton.

    The B's looked like a team that didn't want to be there either as they were embarrassed from start to finish in a humbling 7-1 loss in Game 3, their largest margin of defeat in the postseason since April 29, 1992 (9-3 loss at Buffalo in Game 6 of Division semifinal). The Lightning won their second game in roughly 24 hours to take a 2-1 series lead and totally flip the momentum. Jaroslav Halak got the start but he only lasted basically half the game (31:18) as he allowed four goals on 16 shots. Rookie goaltender Dan Vladar was put in the impossible position to make his NHL debut in relief of him and he predictably allowed three goals on 15 shots. 

    Tampa Bay's power play had been a disaster (2-for-20 in the bubble) but they turned that around in a major way going 3-for-6 this evening. Nikita Kucherov (goal, 3 assists) set a playoff career-high with four points while Harvard's Alex Killorn (2 goals, assist) tied his playoff career-high with three points. Everybody on the Lightning put up numbers as Mikhail Sergachev (goal, 2 assists) had his first multi-point playoff performance, Brayden Point (goal, 2 assists) added three points of his own while even nobodies like Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde each had a goal and an assist. Apparently Andrei Vasilevskiy (23 saves) was in attendance but you could have put a traffic cone in Tampa's net and it probably would make around the same amount of stops. 

    Boston was down 2-0 in the first period as Tampa Bay set a franchise record by scoring its pair of goals (Palat on the power play then Gourde) only 15 seconds apart. Both of those were frustrating too since Palat's shot deflected off Zdeno Chara then Gourde's came from a breakaway when a referee literally ran into Bruins rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. The wheels started to come off for the B's in the second period as Sergachev scored on the man-advantage before Brad Marchand notched a power-play goal (his team-leading seventh goal of the playoffs) that was very similar to last night's skate/stick re-direct. That didn't slow down Tampa as Killorn bagged a power play goal of his own-causing Halak to mercifully get the rest of the night off-then Point had a breakaway vs. Vladar which surprise ended in a goal then Killorn tallied another goal as the Bruins defense was in shambles. 

    Kucherov got the last goal in garbage time, I mean early in the third period. If you were looking for positive signs of life from anybody in a B's jersey, Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug and David Krejci all showed plenty of understandable frustration as they tried to take it out by roughing up the Lightning when the outcome had long been decided. Every game in this series has been chippy and that will no doubt continue for as long as these pseudo-rivals line up against each other. 

    So where do we all go from here? Well besides hopefully waking up tomorrow and realizing that this has all been an extended national nightmare, we are then only left to assume that the prideful Bruins will show up on Friday night for Game 4 (7:30, USA Network) and at least submit a more satisfactory effort. Tampa is very good but they aren't unbeatable like it felt tonight while Boston is much better than this sorry effort would lead you to believe. I will call it a must-win for the Black and Gold too since they are not realistically going to win three straight games against the Lightning. Bigger picture for the club, it could be a defining moment for beloved players like Chara, Marchand, David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, etc. who are likely making their last playoff run all together. No pressure or anything but yeah, Friday is a very important chapter in modern Bruins history. 

     

     

    

Lightning Respond With A 4-3 Overtime Victory In Game 2 To Even The Series 1-1 With The Bruins

 

    You are truly insane if you thought that Boston's Game 1 win on Sunday night meant that this second round series vs. Tampa Bay would be over fast let alone easy in any shape or form. Nope, these are two of the best teams in the NHL so naturally after losing the opener, the Lightning bounced back with a 4-3 overtime thriller. The extra session lasted less than five minutes (4:40 to be exact) as Ondrej Palat put in a loose puck (from Yanni Gourde and Pat Maroon) after his club dominated-outshooting the Bruins 9-1-in overtime and improved to 4-0 this postseason when the game goes beyond regulation. Thanks to the NHL's baffling schedule, these teams will be right back at it in less than 24 hours as Game 3 is tomorrow night (NBC Sports, 8). Don't bother wasting your breath because Jaroslav Halak (36 saves) will be Boston's starting goaltender for the rest of the series barring injury or a lopsided score.

    The B's were outshot 40-25 for the entire contest so that makes it feel like they should have lost by more than a goal. However, when you look at some other stats, you realize that it wasn't a complete fluke that they forced overtime in the first place. Boston won 52% of the face-offs, went 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, had four more hits (47-43), blocked nine more shots (27-18) and coughed up the puck five less times (15-10). The Bruins actually scored first courtesy of a very unlikely source-Nick "Don't Call Me Brett" Ritchie-and they also led 2-1 in the second period for a brief moment but they needed some clutch heroics from Brad Marchand late in the third period to tie it at three. 

    With one of Tampa's best players-defenseman Ryan McDonagh-sidelined with an unknown injury this evening, this was a wasted opportunity by the Black and Gold to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. Early on it seemed like things would go their way though as Ritchie stuffed in a loose puck just 3:14 into the first period. Ritchie's first point of the postseason was also assisted by Anders Bjork (another guy that has been mostly useless in the playoffs) who also notched his first point. Shortly after that, Tampa Bay appeared to tie it on Barclay Goodrow's tip-in but it was overturned since Brayden Point took his sweet time getting off the ice for a line change thus being offside and negating the goal. It didn't take the Lightning that long to recover from that disappointment as Blake Coleman scored on a diving one-timer from Zach Bogosian. Goodrow had the second assist on Coleman's second goal of the postseason at 12:42 that knotted it at 1-1. 

    Boston's power play has become the most dangerous one in the playoffs and true to form, they tallied another big goal. David Pastrnak whipped a crisp low pass to Marchand who was next to Andrei Vasilevskiy (22 saves) and put his skates into a V formation with his stick in the middle to knock it in. Brad's fifth goal of the postseason came at 14:33 of the second period from Pasta and Torey Krug. The B's could barely protect that lead before poof, it was gone. Nikita Kucherov deflected in a shot by BU's Kevin Shattenkirk (4-game point streak) at 15:28. Point added the second assist on Kucherov's third goal of the playoffs. 

    Tampa carried that momentum into the third period as Coleman scored his second goal of the night, this time on a breakaway. The incredible Victor Hedman (who played a game-high 28:37) found him with a step behind everyone on Boston and while he didn't have the cleanest shot, the changeup worked effectively enough to fool Halak and go through his five-hole at 10:40. I'm sure that was deflating to the Bruins but they turned the page quickly as one killer shift resulted in the tying goal by Marchand at 16:02. Pastrnak and Sean Kuraly worked hard to keep the puck in Tampa Bay's defensive zone and Brad was right on the doorstep to pop it in. It was an awesome moment for the B's and many other opponents would have been shook, but sadly not the Lightning.

    There are different theories about if it's better to have more time to think about a brutal playoff loss or to get back out there ASAP. For whatever dumb reason, the league took that out of our hands as they put not only one but possibly two back-to-backs (also Games 6 and 7 if it goes that long) in this huge playoff series. What else can you say but NHL gonna NHL? There are a million reasons why hockey will never be more than a niche sport in many parts of the world and little annoying things like this don't help its cause. Granted, this will all be a moot point once Game 3 starts and we stop complaining about a silly thing like this that we cannot control. Both teams will be playing under the same condensed timeline but at least with veteran rosters and experienced head coaches we can expect plenty more tight, drama-packed action as someone takes a 2-1 series lead.

       

    

The NHL Needs an Epic Bruins-Lightning Series This Upcoming Postseason In the Worst Way

I could go on all day about the beauty of the NHL playoffs (only about a month away now!) but one of my favorite aspects is that the matchups don't even really matter that much (at least like they do in other sports) to still produce a classic playoff series. Still, if two clubs (most likely division rivals) can enter with built in hatred and animosity, well all the better! The Bruins (43-14-12) and Lightning (43-20-5) finished the regular season series tonight at TD Garden with a thoroughly entertaining 5-3 victory by Tampa Bay. Boston went 1-2-1 against the Lightning in 2019/20 but the previous three contests were all decided by a goal: Tampa won a shootout 4-3 on Oct. 17, Lightning edged the B's 3-2 on Dec. 23 and Boston won 2-1 on Tuesday. These are no doubt about it two of the best teams in the NHL complete with star power up and down their lineups so another meeting in the playoffs (remember the Lightning wiped the Bruins out of the second-round in 5 games 2 years ago) would be nirvana for hockey fans.

An NHL regular season game on March 7 has no business being this thrilling but when you have line brawls and chipiness after seemingly every whistle, you know that Jack Edwards might need a clean up in the NESN booth afterwards. Before things got wild, they were weird as Tampa Bay scored on its first two shots of the game and they both happened to be during the same Bruins power play. The Lightning built up a 3-0 lead before the B's came roaring back with a pair of goals to cut it to 3-2. Harvard's best NHL player in a generation-Alex Killorn-gave Tampa an insurance goal before the top goal-scorer in the league (David Pastrnak, 48!) got on the scoresheet. Nikita Kucherov has points in 21 of his last 22 games (his only scoreless outing was Tuesday's loss vs. Boston) so he fittingly got some retribution with an empty-netter that clinched it. Meanwhile, the two teams combined for 94 penalty minutes which included two official fights and two misconducts not to mention countless scrums, donnybrooks and even a line brawl in the second period. Say it with me folks, old time hockey! Are you not entertained?

Tuukka Rask (20 saves, 25-8-6) is the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy this season (it would be his second after capturing it in 2013-14) as the top goalie in the NHL but understandably, many Bruins fans will never fully feel comfortable with him until he wins a Stanley Cup of his own. He was Tim Thomas' backup in 2011 and never entered during that magical run. I hate to even bring it up but allowing two goals on the first two shots by the Lightning definitely sported the odor of Game 7 vs. St. Louis in June when a couple early goals by the Blues crippled the Bruins right away and they never recovered. Keep in mind that Steven Stamkos (core muscle surgery) is expected to miss six to eight weeks for Tampa Bay and their All-World defenseman Victor Hedman only played 4:36 tonight (7 shifts) after picking up an injury of his own. In other words, as great as those guys are, the Lightning clearly aren't a one or two-man team. Brandon Carlo (upper-body injury, cough concussion) was also a key player missing for the Bruins after getting hurt on Thursday at Florida (34-26-8) in Boston's 2-1 win.

Anthony Cirelli (who sounds like someone that plays in your Wednesday night men's league at Hockeytown in Saugus, MA) made it 1-0 Tampa at 5:08. His 16th goal of the season was unassisted and it came just six seconds into Boston's first power play of the tilt. If that wasn't bad enough, the Lightning doubled their lead 1:02 after that with another shorthanded tally. Mikhail Sergachev (forced into a game-high 28:20 of ice time with Hedman out) cranked in a one-timer from Yanni Gourde for a stunning 2-0 lead for Tampa and his 10th goal of the season. Boston hadn't allowed two shorthanded goals in the same game in over a year (Dec. 23, 2018 vs. Carolina) and you have to go back to Dec. 4, 1966 (vs. Toronto) when they allowed a pair of shorties on the same power play. Yeesh. Chris Wagner and Barclay Goodrow (a lost lax bro?) tried to fight later in the first period but the refs wouldn't allow it. Luckily after they went to the penalty box for unsportstmanlike conduct, they proceeded to come out and get into a bout six seconds after the penalty had expired. It wasn't exactly Wilder-Fury I but the Garden crowd certainly ate it up like it was a boxing classic. The scoreboard almost seemed like a joke at the end of the frame as the B's trailed 2-0 yet had outshot the Lightning 14-5. Spoiler alert, kids: that's really hard to do!

When Cedric Paquette put Tampa Bay ahead 6:50 into the second period with a wide open roof job from the door step, you had to wonder if this would be like Boston's 9-3 humbling defeat in Vancouver two weeks ago. Thankfully for the paying customers (and the Bruins fans around the globe), this was not a repeat performance of that dreadful no-show to end an otherwise great road trip. Nope, this evening the Black and Gold decided to fight back both literally (with fists) and where it counts the most (with goals). After a rough season offensively, Charlie McAvoy has played like the franchise defenseman that Boston hopes that he can fully turn into once the ageless Zdeno Chara finally retires. Boston University can be directly thanked for the first Bruins goal since it came from McAvoy (4-on-4), assisted by Charlie Coyle and Matt Grzelcyk (all BU alums). McAvoy's fifth goal of the season cut it to 3-1 and it came at 14:50 of the second period. The next few minutes were truly bizarre as the puck seemed to sneak by Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (35 saves, 35-13-3) but play continued for a few minutes well until things devolved into a full out battle royale 90s WWF style. After a review, Sean Kuraly was credited with the goal (his 6th of the season) from McAvoy and Ondrej Kase (his 1st point as a Bruin) at 18:37. Those last five-plus minutes of the second period after McAvoy's goal were scintillating: hockey (or sports in general) doesn't get much better than that in terms of incredible plays, physicality or crazy twists and turns.

Killorn's career-high 26th goal of the season at 1:08 of the third period was a bit of a wet fart to the proceedings. He tipped in Sergachev's shot from the point with Brayden Point fittingly grabbing the other helper. Somehow though like a horror movie villain, the Bruins wouldn't die as Pasta's blast of his own on the power play trimmed Tampa Bay's lead to 4-3 at 6:37. Torey Krug (40th assist! 5-game point streak) and Brad Marchand (NHL-best 13-game point streak) had the assists on the goal that put Pastrnak one goal ahead of Washington's Alex Ovechkin. Once again with all the momentum on their side, the B's felt destined to tie it and they couldn't have asked for a better chance to do that but Vasilevskiy stopped Pastrnak on a breakaway. Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy waited a bit to pull Rask but it was a moot point when Kucherov stole the puck in the Bruins' end and put in his team-best 33rd goal of the season with 1:02 left in regulation.

Just recapping that memorable meeting, I feel like I need a hot shower and message to recover so I can only imagine how the players and coaches feel. As you would expect, the Bruins won't practice tomorrow and they will be back at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, MA on Monday morning before hitting the road to play the hottest team in the league-the Flyers (41-20-7)-on Tuesday (7, NBCSN). Philadelphia has won nine straight games to pull into a virtual deadlock with the sputtering Capitals (4-4-2 in their last 10 games) for first-place in the Metropolitan Division. Philly's rapid rise has to be one of the most unexpected developments of this season, especially considering how stacked the Metropolitan is with the Islanders (35-23-9) and Blue Jackets (32-21-15) currently occupying the top two Wild Card spots in the East. Furthermore, the Hurricanes (36-25-5) and Rangers (36-28-4) are breathing down their necks as well. It's a relatively quiet week for the B's as they go to lifeless Buffalo (29-31-8)-losers of their last six games (Free Eichel!) on Friday (7, NESN) then they have a back-to-back with Toronto (35-25-9) coming here on Saturday night (7, NESN).

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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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With His Back Against the Wall, Tuukka Rask Responds With His Biggest Win In a Long Time

It was a real surprise to see Tuukka Rask (4-8-2) get the start at TD Garden tonight vs. Tampa Bay (17-6-2) but Bruins (11-8-4) head coach Bruce Cassidy's hunch paid off in a big way as Boston held on for a very satisfying 3-2 victory against the top team in the NHL. Rask was staked to a 3-0 lead early in the second period and he was only forced to make 19 saves to earn the win but the Lightning awoke late in the second period and dominated the third but Rask was there to shut the door for two points that he desperately needed.

Rask's most recent win was November 6 vs. Minnesota so needless to say, this was a long time coming. Given the quality of the opponent and the way that it played out, the B's have to hope that this is the kick-start that he's been looking for basically all of this so far bizarre season. Boston also received a boost since David Backes (missed 12 games) and Brad Marchand (missed 6 games) returned from injuries and immediately had an impact on the tilt. Marchand assisted on the first two Bruins goals as they took a 2-0 lead in the first period. Charlie McAvoy opened the scoring with a goal at 7:27 that originally was called off for goaltender interference on Andrei Vasilevskiy (33 saves) but eventually the refs overturned it. David Pastrnak and Marchand had the helpers on McAvoy's third goal of the season.

Boston got some always appreciated secondary scoring to double their lead as Riley Nash sniped a shot by Vasilevskiy at 17:13. Danton Heinen and Marchand assisted on Nash's second goal of the season which also extended his point streak to three games. Cedric Paquette crushed Torey Krug along the end boards early in the second period which led to Frank Vatrano tripping Paquette. Little guys stick together! Shortly after that, Mikhail Sergachev was nabbed for interference on Marchand who simultaneously was called for embellishment (which only him and a few other guys around the league would have been charged with in that instance). No matter as Krug exacted some revenge with a one-timer at 5:59 from Ryan Spooner and McAvoy when the teams were skating 4-on-4, his fourth goal of the season.

Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr scored his first goal since March 30 of last season when his shot from the point through traffic found a hole into Boston's net. Braydon Coburn and Chris Kunitz assisted on that fluky goal. It could have been worse for the B's since Tyler Johnson broke in on Rask but his shot somehow hit the post and skimmed along the goal line but never went in before he ran into the embattled Finnish goaltender. Boston escaped the frame with a 3-1 advantage which was trimmed to 3-2 at 2:10 of the third period as Steven Stamkos scored his 11th goal of the season and NHL-leading eighth power play tally of the season. He crushed a one-timer from Alex Ovechkin's office (left side half-wall), assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev. Rask clinched the win with a key stop on Dan Girardi's shot that was tipped by Ryan Callahan.

As far as we know, the Bruins made it through a complete game (including McAvoy who played a career-high 28:11) without sustaining another key injury. Their next game is Saturday (1, NESN) at Philadelphia (8-10-7) who is a woeful 1-4-5 in their last 10 games. It shouldn't matter who gets the start in that contest, either Rask or Anton Khudobin (7-0-2) should be able to beat the Flyers who are currently a dumpster fire with their fans booing them off the ice and calling for their head coach's head. Haha what else is new for that silly team that still doesn't have a legitimate goaltender of its own?

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The Bruins Have Picked the Wrong Time of the Year to Have a Season-High 4-Game Losing Streak

There is a reason that sequels rarely ever live up to the original: nobody prefers to see the same story, jokes, predictable ending, etc. Apparently the Bruins (38-30-6) don't subscribe to that common theory with movies as right now, they are heading into a tailspin that is eerily reminiscent of the springs of 2015 and 2016. With everything to play for, once again they fell flat on their already bruised faces, losing 6-3 tonight to Tampa Bay (35-29-9) who looked far more desperate to make the postseason despite an array of serious injuries up and down their talented roster. The crazy part about Boston's fourth straight regulation loss (a season-high) is that they actually led not once, not twice but thrice. That's right, of course their combined time in front of the Lightning was 2:43 which hardly seems humanly possible except it really happened before our own eyes.

Toronto (35-23-15) beat New Jersey (27-34-12) 4-2 tonight which means that the Leafs are now up three points on the Bruins with a game in hand. The B's are clinging to the second Wild Card spot in the East aka getting the honor of being swept by the top seed Washington (48-17-8) in the first round. After a scoreless first period that was akin to watching paint dry, things really got more interesting in the second as Boston kept scoring goals, only to be quickly answered by Tampa Bay every time. Special teams were a huge factor for the Bruins (in a positive way early then a negative manner later) as David Pastrnak opened the scoring with a power play goal at 1:33. His one-timer (32nd goal of the season) was assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Ryan Spooner. Before the PA announcer had even said anything about that tally, Tampa Bay's Brayden Point put in a rebound at 2:17 for a 1-1 tie. Ondrej Palat and Jake Dotchin had the assists on his 13th goal of the season.

Boston started to take too many needless penalties but Zdeno Chara temporarily quelled that pain with a shorthanded goal at 7:50. It was the second shorthanded goal of his long, storied career (both coming this season) and eighth overall in this campaign, assisted by Riley Nash and Dominic Moore. Still on the power play, Tampa Bay tied it as their young star Nikita Kucherov hit a one-timer that might have gone wide of the net but it deflected in off of Tuukka Rask's (23 saves) back skate for his 35th goal of the season, assisted by Jonathan Drouin and the beast known as Victor Hedman. No worries, Nash tied gave the Bruins their final lead at 13:18 after Peter Budaj (28 saves) was way too slow to react on a wraparound attempt then to compound things, Nash's pass out front bounced in thanks to Hedman's skate. Nash's fifth goal of the season was assisted by Moore and Kevan Miller.

Tampa Bay was relentless from there as Anton Stralman roofed a shot over Rask's shortside to tie it one last time at 14:53. His third goal of the season was assisted by Palat and Point. You would think that the Bruins might finally react in the third period to their season slipping away but nope, they didn't one bit. In fact, it turned into a laugher as Drouin put one by Rask that he needs to save then Kucherov completed his third career hat trick with another power play goal and then an empty-netter that sent the Garden crowd all scurrying for the exit. No matter how many times head coach Bruce Cassidy or the players shoot it down, you can tell that the pressure (and wretched memories from the last 2 years) are starting to get to them at the worst possible time.

There are eight games left for the Bruins and only two of them are on the road. They face another playoff contender on Saturday (7, NESN) as they go to Brooklyn to take on the Islanders (34-26-12) who are two points back with two games in hand. Furthermore, New York is at Pittsburgh (46-17-9) tomorrow night so if the Isles can win that, they would go into Saturday's showdown with not only a chance to overtake the B's for the second Wild Card but it would also take Boston's control out of their own hands. Yeesh. Rask played in his 59th game of the season tonight and just like the last two collapses, he seems to be fading down the stretch (3-4-0 in his last 7 decisions) after playing with crappy backups year after year. That leaves the team in an impossible position because it's not like you are going to sit your franchise goaltender now. All we can hope is that they can put this recent malaise behind them starting this weekend. If not, well I'd rather not go to that rather dark place at this very moment.

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