In The Awkward Timing Department: B's Head Coach Bruce Cassidy Won The Jack Adams Award

 

    Sometimes the way that life works, you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Case in point: tonight while he probably was getting ready at his house to watch Game 2 of Lightning-Islanders in the Eastern Conference Finals, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy found out that he had won his first Jack Adams Award. That honor is "given annually to the coach who has contributed the most to his team's success" as voted on by the National Hockey League broadcasters association. So on one hand, Cassidy was out of the Toronto bubble and with his family therefore they could all enjoy the biggest achievement of his coaching career. Truthfully, I'm sure that he would give it all up in a heartbeat just to have his team still competing in the 2020 NHL playoffs after Tampa Bay knocked them out of the Eastern Conference semifinals in five games. 

    This was the second time in just three years (he finished 2nd in 2018) as an NHL head coach that Cassidy was nominated for the biggest award in his profession. He beat out Philadelphia's head coach Alain Vigneault and Columbus' head coach John Tortorella so he has that going for him. Surprisingly with all of Boston's history, Cassidy became only the fourth Bruins head coach to ever win the Jack Adams Award, joining Don Cherry (1976), Pat Burns (1998) and his predecessor-Claude Julien (2009). You had a feeling that this was his time to win it since Boston had a spectacular regular season (44-14-12) to capture the dreaded Presidents' Trophy (most points in the regular season). When the Coronavirus pandemic halted play in mid-March, the Bruins led the league in wins, regulation wins (38) and goals allowed per game (2.39).

    I will never claim that head coaches make a huge difference in the NHL but just from being around Cassidy since Day 1 in Boston, you can clearly see that he's been exactly what the B's needed after Julien got tuned out for his last few seasons here. They've posted 100+ points in each of his campaigns in charge which is nothing to scoff at. Now, he needs a Stanley Cup-the toughest championship to win in American pro sports-to round out his personal trophy case. With Tampa Bay up 2-0 on New York in their series, it feels like the Lightning are going to win the Cup this fall (that sounds so weird to say) although don't count out the Golden Knights if they beat the Stars in the Western Conference Finals. There is no doubt that Boston left one on the table last season by choking in Game 7 at the Garden vs. St. Louis. Regardless of what happens the next few years, Bruins GM Don Sweeney can rest easy knowing that he has the right guy behind the bench as they transition from one era of veterans into the future.   

      

    

Thus Concludes Boston's Disappointing Stay In The Toronto Bubble As TB Beats Them In 5 Games

 

    You'd be hard-pressed to find a more bizarre stay in the NHL postseason than the one just completed by the Bruins in the Toronto bubble. They weren't ready to go and went 0-3 in round-robin play before beating the Hurricanes in five games then falling in five games to the Lightning (the same story from 2 years ago!) in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Fittingly, the series-clinching victory for Tampa Bay was extra painful for Boston as the Lightning battled them for nearly two full overtime sessions before Victor Hedman sent the B's home to their families and friends with a shot through a Pat Maroon screen at 14:10 in double overtime. The Lightning won 3-2 as they kept their perfect overtime record (5-0) going this postseason while the Bruins (1-2) dropped their second overtime contest of the series (they also lost 4-3 in Game 2). 

    Any season-ending loss is going to hurt for awhile but Boston will be kicking themselves since you could argue that Game 5 was their best performance overall against Tampa Bay. They outshot the Lightning 47-35 and Jaroslav Halak (32 saves) deserved a better fate since he saved his best outing of the playoffs for this bitter defeat. The Black and Gold never led in Game 5 and they needed a clutch goal from David Krejci with 2:33 left in regulation just to send it to overtime in the first place. After scoring six goals in the first two games of the series, Boston's offense mostly disappeared to the tune of four total goals in their last three games. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay scored 19 goals in five games (obviously with a big boost from their 7 in Game 3). 

    After missing Games 2-4 with an injury, the Lightning's second best defenseman Ryan McDonagh returned to action and played 31:50 with six hits and three blocked shots. As it turned out, Tampa didn't even need its great captain Steven Stamkos (out with a core muscle injury all postseason) to get past Boston. Nikita Kucherov also got banged up tonight and only played 9:09 but it still didn't really matter since the Lightning outworked, outsmarted, outhustled and simply outplayed the Bruins for much of Games 2-5. 

    Ondrej Palat scored a goal for a fourth straight game which tied a Lightning franchise record in the playoffs. He tipped in a shot by BU's Kevin Shattenkirk at 4:21 of the second period for a 1-0 Tampa lead. Blake Coleman added the second assist on Palat's fifth goal of the postseason/series. David Pastrnak tied it with a sweet one-timer at 12:38 of the second period. His third goal of the postseason was thanks to a great feed from Krejci with the second helper going to Patrice Bergeron as Andrei Vasilevskiy (45 saves) had no chance to stop the laser that actually hit the camera mounted in the back of his net. 

    Another fortuitous deflection for Tampa-this time from Anthony Cirelli-gave the Lightning a 2-1 advantage at 12:03 of the third period. Hedman had the initial shot and Brayden Point (6-game point streak) notched the second assist on Cirelli's third goal of the postseason. Boston finally got some puck luck of their own to get the tying tally. Zdeno Chara's shot was tipped by a Lightning player right to Krejci who was parked out front for an easy goal. Connor Clifton added the other assist on Krejci's fourth goal of the postseason (and 40th all-time which tied John Bucyk for fifth-most in franchise playoff history). Boston came out on fire in the first overtime (outshooting Tampa Bay 11-7 in the first 20 minutes) but they started to lose steam when Krejci was correctly whistled for tripping halfway through it. They survived that but never really could recover as the Lightning outshot them 7-1 in double overtime before Hedman-who played a game-high 38:25-put the B's out of their misery with more assists for Shattenkirk and Point.

    I'm sure that many lazy Bruins fans and/or media members will put much of the blame for losing this series on Tuukka Rask's slender shoulders. While they certainly would have had a better chance to beat Tampa with him, the Lightning were truthfully the superior club in almost every possible way. As I said before, Boston's offense evaporated as the series went along and every time their defense made a mistake, it felt like Tampa Bay was right there to make them pay. There is no shame to losing to the Lightning-one of the best teams in the NHL by any measure-but this was a rather depressing way to see a Presidents' Trophy winner go out so easily. The B's had such an outstanding regular season and then for whatever reason, the time off really hurt them since they could never find that extra gear when they needed it most. 

    We have no idea when the next Bruins season will begin and likewise, there are many unsettled issues surrounding the team now that they are officially done for 2019-20. Do they re-sign their unrestricted free agents in Torey Krug, Chara or Joakim Nordstrom? What about their young restricted free agents Jake DeBrusk (23) and Matt Grzelcyk (26)? Losing in five games to the Lightning in the second round shows that Boston has to find a way to get younger. Drafting well and developing their own prospects would definitely help in that regard. Oh and it also shines a light on the fact that last season's Stanley Cup Final loss to St. Louis in Game 7 will probably represent the last true run with this same core group of players. That was their golden opportunity to win another Stanley Cup and it only gets harder as the years pass by, they all get older and more worn down from the grind of long NHL careers. 

    

    

    

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.

       

    

Just Like 2 Years Ago, B's Take Gm. 1 vs. TB. Let's Hope The Rest Of The Series Plays Out Differently

 

    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. 

     

      

       

    

    

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 NHL In October Doesn't Get More Exciting Than That 4-3 Shootout Loss for the B's to Tampa

No matter what time of the year it is (fall, winter or spring), you can always bet that whenever the Bruins (5-1-1) and Lightning (4-2-1) meet up, it is going to be a hell of a game. Yes, it was the end of a road trip for Tampa Bay and Halloween is still weeks away but tonight at TD Garden it felt like an Eastern Conference Final contest instead of game seven of the regular season for both clubs. Boston coughed up a pair of one-goal leads but also rallied late in the third period to tie it before a crazy (but scoreless) overtime followed by a four-round shootout. The Lightning came out on top 4-3 in this first of four meetings between arguably the two best teams in the Atlantic Division, maybe Eastern Conference and possibly the entire NHL.

The B's were going for a 3-0 start on their inaugural homestand of the season but Tampa had other plans. Boston's top line (all 3 goals) and power play (3-for-5) continued to produce at an incredible level but conversely, their secondary scoring not to mention quality scoring chances that they allowed continued to be real issues for them. Coming off a career-high four goals on Monday vs. Anaheim (5-2-0), Pasta picked right up where he left off with a power play strike at 9:34 of the first period for an early 1-0 Bruins lead. Bergeron found the loose puck and sent it over to him for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Torey Krug had the secondary assist to what is guaranteed to be the NHL's first star of the week. Tampa Bay answered with the dictionary definition of a back-breaking (regular season) goal. With 0.8 seconds left in the opening frame, Brayden Point got behind Boston's defense and used a forehand shot to go top shelf on Tuukka Rask (33 saves, 3-0-1). His third goal of the season was assisted by Yanni Gourde and Victor Hedman.

Brad Marchand hit his second post of the contest in the second period before Tampa Bay made the unfortunate mistake of putting Boston's lethal power play unit back on the ice. This time Pastrnak was the playmaker as his pass towards the net was redirected in by Bergeron at 7:26 for the 2-1 advantage. Marchand had the second assist on Bergeron's second goal of the season. It didn't take long though for the Lightning to strike back (sorry) as Mathieu Joseph collected a rebound on the doorstep and put it in the net at 10:32 for his second goal of the season. Harvard's Alex Killorn and Eric Cernak had the helpers there.

In the third period, Tampa Bay took its first lead of the game at 15:13 as former BU star Kevin Shattenkirk's shot went through Zdeno Chara's giant legs and past a screened Rask. Already up to four goals on the season, Shattenkirk has gotten his Lightning career off to a very fast start. Steven Stamkos and Point had the assists on the go-ahead goal that left the Garden pretty quiet for a few moments. Somehow Tampa Bay made another mental error as Anthony Cirelli was called for tripping which led to the tying power play goal by Pastrnak. Andrei Vasilevskiy (34 saves, 4-1-0) was under siege and couldn't do anything to stop Pasta's quick release from in close and through a host of bodies. Marchand and Krug had the assists at 16:55.

Boston's first overtime of the season did not result in a goal but it continued the theme of end-to-end high level action. The B's outshot the Lightning 5-3 but Tampa Bay held on to get to the shootout. The first three shooters for both teams (Hedman, Charlie Coyle, Point, Pasta, Nikita Kucherov and Marchand) all failed to score before Stamkos finally beat Rask up high with a filthy shot. Jake DeBrusk had a chance to tie it with a shootout goal on his 23rd birthday but he flubbed his shot so no presents for him.

The schedule does no favors for the Black and Gold the next week as they go to Toronto (4-3-1) on Saturday night (7, NESN)-their first matchup since Game 7 of the first round last spring-then the Maple Leafs come here on Tuesday (7, NESN). The next game isn't until Saturday night (7, NESN) but it's another doozy as the Blues (3-1-3) return to the scene of their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. I would assume that Rask will play one of the Toronto games with Jaroslav Halak (2-1-0) getting the other. The Leafs have allowed twice as many goals as the Bruins this season (28-14) so this weekend is a good time for Boston's struggling second and third lines to get untracked and build their confidence back up.

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Cue the Hype Machine as the B's Dominate the NHL's Best Team (TB) From Start to Finish, 4-1

Let's get these qualifiers out of the way first: yes, Tampa Bay (49-12-4) was playing on the second night of back-to-back on the road and backup goaltender Louis Domingue (who was 19-4-0 coming in) got the start but whatever. These are the most important facts (at least as far as Bruins fans are concerned): for the first time in NHL history, two clubs entered with 14-game point streaks (12-0-2 for Tampa Bay and 10-0-4 for Boston) but only one continued as Boston (38-17-9) rolled 4-1 against the Lightning tonight at TD Garden. The B's improved to 14-3-0 in their last 17 home games against the Lightning.

It's only one game so it doesn't erase last spring's one-sided second round playoff series (4-1) won too easily by Tampa Bay. However, it makes up for the 3-2 loss by the B's in Tampa on Dec. 6 and with two more meetings in the regular season, it should give the Black and Gold confidence that they can play with that super team. Domingue (37 saves) actually played out of his mind for most of the game and he was the only reason that his gassed teammates were able to hang around until Boston exploded for a trio of goals in just 1:28 in the second half of the third period. Goaltender Tuukka Rask (20 saves, 21-8-5) continued to play some of the best hockey of his life: he has a goals against average of 1.92 and save percentage of .931 during his 16-game point streak (13-0-3).

Tampa Bay's numbers both individually and as a team are pretty ridiculous this far into a campaign: they have 13 more points than the next closest team in the NHL (Calgary) along with the No. 1 power play unit and the No. 1 penalty kill unit. Right wing Nikita Kucherov (30 goals, 74 assists) is the front-runner for the Hart Trophy (MVP) and he leads the league in points while even Domingue had won his last 11 games (longest streak in Lightning history). They had won a franchise-best 10 games in a row before tonight's loss.

After a scoreless first period-highlighted by another David Backes bout and Mathieu Joseph ringing a shot off the post-where Boston outshot them 17-4, the B's went ahead for good thanks to a power play goal by red-hot Jake DeBrusk (7 goals in his last 8 games). Torey Krug (1 goal, 10 assists in his last 11 games) and Rask had the assists on DeBrusk's 21st goal of the season but in truth, it was mostly all thanks to Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman. DeBrusk intended to pass the puck to Brad Marchand next to the Tampa Bay net but Stralman deflected it right into his own goal. Oopsie! Still, Boston had 23 more shots on goal through two periods (32-9) but only led by one goal (1-0) which was troubling to say the least.

The Lightning's best offensive push of the game was right away to start the third period as Kucherov's line acted like they were on a power play when they really weren't and completely hemmed Boston in its own defensive zone. They didn't come away with any goals though but Domingue stood on his head, robbing Joakim Nordstrom and Danton Heinen with incredible saves. Sean Kuraly got sandwiched between a pair of Lightning on a rough hit by Braydon Coburn that sent Boston's fourth-line winger to be evaluated for a concussion. Speaking of the fourth line, Noel Acciari lost two teeth on Tuesday after getting hit in the face with an errant puck but he didn't miss a game. The hockey gods rewarded him with a huge goal at 11:47 that made it 2-0 Bruins. He followed up a shot by linemate Chris Wagner for his third goal of the season. That's when the floodgates finally opened on Domingue as Patrice Bergeron scored on an uncovered wrister from the slot 45 seconds later (his 22nd of the season, assisted by Heinen and Acciari) and Marchand put the bow on it with a goal via a breakaway where the puck actually rolled off his stick before he completed his move. No worries, his 26th goal of the season was assisted by Heinen and Krug at 13:15.

Tampa Bay finally got on the scoreboard at 13:52 as Anthony Cirelli tipped in a shot from the point by Ondrej Palat. His 13th goal of the season saved the Lightning from the embarrassment of getting blanked but that's about all it was good for. This officially closes the month for the B's and what a February it turned out to be: they finished 11-0-2, their first month without a regulation loss since November 2011 (12-0-2). The good times shouldn't end anytime soon either since they have four games left on this homestand and three are against teams currently out of the playoff picture. The mostly nameless Devils (25-31-8) are here on Saturday night (7, NESN) in Marcus Johansson's first meeting with his last employer. The crowds at the Garden have been particularly loud for the last few games and with only 18 games left in the regular season, playoff hockey is right around the corner.

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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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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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Say Hello to the 1st Place Team in the Atlantic Division & Eastern Conference: Your Boston Bruins

In the biggest game of the (regular) season thus far, the Bruins (48-17-11) continued their recent dominance of the Lightning (51-22-4) both this season (3-0) and in the past few years (7-1-0 in their last 8). Boston beat Tampa Bay 4-2 in a playoff-like thrilling contest at TD Garden that was complete with the requisite "We Want the Cup" chants and also included multiple fights with just about the most unlikely members of the B's that you can imagine. The regulation win pushed Boston ahead of Tampa Bay for the first time since October 18 and the Bruins aren't content with only leading the Atlantic Division, they are also at the top of the Eastern Conference (with the 2nd most points in the NHL behind only Nashville).

Eight of Boston's last nine contests had been on the road so the Garden fans were extra psyched to see their proud and resilient club that continues to pile up positive results no matter what key players are missing from the lineup. With only six games remaining in the dress rehearsal, the playoffs are understandably coming into focus as the best teams jostle for position while many others fight tooth and nail simply to get in. Tuukka Rask (26 saves, 33-11) has submitted better individual performances in 2017-18 but I'm sure that for many Bruins fans this was their favorite outing by him. For a guy that is often criticized for being too passive or not a leader, he sure didn't look like that as he repeatedly punched Lightning forward Cory Conacher in the second period. Conacher was sitting on Brandon Carlo in Rask's net so Boston's emotional goaltender took exception to that and started whaling on him. If that wasn't enough, David Pastrnak (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 Gordie Howe hat trick!) got into his first career NHL fight in the third period vs. Tampa Bay's veteran defenseman Dan Girardi (who had hit Patrice Bergeron earlier in that shift which apparently enraged Pasta enough to drop the gloves).

The versatility of this Bruins team is what should make them so dangerous come playoff time: they can employ any style that they need to use on a given night. This particular matchup called for grit with a dash of skill. Boston dominated in the first period (outshooting Tampa Bay 17-6) but it took them until the final minute to strike, luckily they did that twice in 32 seconds. Tim Schaller went to the net and was credited for his 12th goal of the season after Tommy Wingels' shot was saved by Andrei Vasilevskiy (26 saves, 42-16) but a Lightning defenseman appeared to knock the puck in his own net (what we'd term an own goal in soccer lingo). Pastrnak made it 2-0 with a deflected goal on the power play. His 32nd goal of the season was assisted by Torey Krug and Patrice Bergeron.

Tampa Bay's No. 2 ranked power play did its job when Brian Gionta was called for boarding early in the second period. J.T. Miller tapped in a sweet pass from Nikita Kucherov (2nd in the NHL in scoring) at 1:14. Miller's 21st goal of the season was also assisted by Victor Hedman, in case you didn't notice the Lightning are blessed with an abundance of talent at every position on the ice. Similar to Boston in the first period, Tampa Bay skated circles around them in the second (outshooting them 11-3). Still, the Black and Gold stayed in front and never gave up their slim lead. Harvard's Alex Killorn thought he tied the game early in the third but it was wiped out right away since Anthony Cirelli had parked himself in Boston's crease with no plans to move out anytime soon.

The Bruins increased their lead back to two goals as Bergeron finished a beautiful passing sequence with Krug and Marchand at 11:59 for his 28th goal of the season. The Lightning still kept pushing less than two minutes later as Hedman's shot somehow squeezed under Rask's arm before he could close it tight to his body. The hulking defenseman's 15th goal of the season was assisted by Yanni Gourde and Girardi. Tampa Bay pulled Vasilevskiy late in regulation but Boston wrapped it up with an empty-net goal from Marchand at 19:05 (his 34th goal of the season). Bergeron and Pastrnak were each credited with helpers on Marchand's goal and truthfully, either of them could have bagged it themselves but they chose to do the unselfish thing and pass it to a more open linemate.

It's a busy weekend coming up for the B's, who knows if they'll have time to eat a ton of candy and hunt for Easter eggs with their kids. Boston hosts Florida (39-29-8) on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) before traveling to Philadelphia (39-25-14) on Sunday afternoon (12:30, NBC), don't forget to watch that game before you stuff your face with some delicious food. The Panthers are three points behind the Devils (40-28-9) for the second Wild Card spot in the East while Philadelphia is one point ahead of Columbus (43-29-5) for third-place in the Metropolitan Division. Needless to say, both opponents will be desperate for two points but the Bruins have plenty to play for as well. David Backes returned tonight after missing the past five games with that gruesome cut on his leg. Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy and Jake DeBrusk all skated at practice today and B's head coach Bruce Cassidy sounded hopeful that they could all return in the next few days. Rick Nash's mysterious upper-body injury is much more scary but it's tough to build up too many negative feelings right now about this team that continues to roll no matter what obstacle is placed in front of them.

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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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For the First Time In Three Long Years, Your Boston Bruins are Headed Back to the Playoffs

Great news, internet friends: playoff hockey is coming back to Boston this spring! By virtue of the Bruins' (44-30-6) 4-0 blanking of the Lightning (39-30-10) this evening at TD Garden, Boston clinched its first postseason berth since 2013-14. There are many reasons that the B's are back in the playoffs and goaltender Tuukka Rask (career-high 37th win of the season) has to be near the top of any such list as he made 28 saves in his career-best eighth shutout of the season. That's the most by a Bruins goaltender since crazy Tim Thomas had nine in 2010-11. Boston's season-high win-streak was extended to six games as their defense continues to lock down on opponents in front of their pair of red-hot goalies. PS interim head coach Bruce Cassidy improved to 18-7 since taking over from former head coach Claude Julien. I guess that was a decent move by Boston's front office at the time.

Brad Marchand was rightfully slapped with a game misconduct with 40 seconds left in the first period after a vicious spearing incident with Tampa Bay defenseman Jake Dotchin's groin. It was a low-rent cheap shot that was more typical of Marchand's earlier checkered NHL career. He was given a five-minute major but luckily his teammates picked him up by killing it all off from the first period into the second period. Keep in mind this is the same guy who has been suspended six times and was also fined $10,000 earlier in this campaign. I'd be very surprised if he isn't suspended by the league and the worst part is that it could extend into the postseason.

Boston finished 4-1 against Tampa Bay this season and they grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second period. Drew Stafford put in a backhander top shelf on Andrei Vasilevskiy's (34 saves) juicy rebound at 5:56. David Krejci and Adam McQuaid had the assists on Stafford's seventh goal of the season (his 3rd as a Bruin). David Pastrnak doubled the Bruins' lead when he one-timed Riley Nash's pretty feed at 16:06. Kevan Miller provided the other helper on Pasta's 33rd goal of the season. The B's are now 34-0-2 when leading after two periods so needless to say, the Lightning were cooked when they were down 2-0 headed into the third.

Fittingly from the captain, Zdeno Chara's power play goal at 9:12 basically sealed Boston's postseason ticket. His 10th goal of the season-a one-timer-was assisted by Torey Krug and David Backes. Pastrnak added an empty-netter at 18:58 for the final margin. The Bruins won 20 more faceoffs than the Lightning (36-16) led by Patrice Bergeron's unheard of perfect performance (17-0!).

Ottawa (42-27-10) beat Detroit (32-36-12) 2-0 tonight while Toronto (39-25-15) fell 4-1 at Washington (53-18-8) as well meaning that the B's and Senators both have 94 points but Ottawa has played one less game so they are currently in second-place in the Atlantic Division. Toronto has 93 points and they have also played one fewer contest so they reside in the second Wild Card spot. Neither Ottawa nor Toronto has clinched a playoff spot yet but they are almost guaranteed with the Islanders (38-29-12) and Lightning each on life support.

The B's still have plenty to play for in their last two games as they host the Senators on Thursday (7, NESN) and then the Capitals on Saturday afternoon (3, NBC) to close out the regular season. Ottawa is 3-4-3 in their last 10 games and Boston hasn't beaten them all season so this seems like the perfect time to check that off the list which would give them the upper-hand for home-ice in a potential first-round playoff series. It sounds funny to say this after such a weird up and down season, but few teams will want to see the Bruins in the first round. They are playing their most complete hockey of the season and barring a long suspension for Marchand, they should have a full compliment of healthy (enough) players. Game on!

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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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Hell Freezes Over (Again): Jimmy Hayes Scores His 1st Goal for the Bruins In 2016-17

Coming in on a three-game losing streak (outscored 9-4 in the process) and with captain Zdeno Chara gleefully cheering from the press box (more on that later), the Bruins (12-10-0) desperately needed a victory on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden vs. the Lightning (13-9-1). Surprisingly enough they got it in pretty easy fashion, 4-1, with even Jimmy Hayes finding the back of the net for the home team. Boston opened up a scoreless affair with a trio of goals in the second period and capped it off with one more in the third period before Tampa Bay avoided the shutout with a Victor Hedman goal in garbage time (that deflected in off a Bruins skate).

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (30 saves, 12-4-0) has been superb all season but the funny part is this marked the fourth time already that he's lost a shutout with less than five minutes left in regulation (11/1 at Florida, 11/17 at Minnesota, 11/19 vs. Winnipeg). He's been by far Boston's best player and he's reclaimed his spot as one of the top goalies in the NHL but it just goes to show you how thin the margin is for the upper echelon players like himself.

Things weren't nearly as enjoyable for Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop (26 saves, 7-8-0) who fell to 4-5-3 in his career against Boston. Dominic Moore (read my feature about him in tomorrow's edition of Metro Boston!) continued to rack up goals at a crazy pace (at least for him). Colin Miller (who made his return for the 1st time in 2 weeks) chipped a puck into Tampa Bay's zone that Moore chopped out of mid-air for his sixth goal of the season at 2:24 of the second period. Ryan Spooner also assisted on Moore's goal which tied him with Brad Marchand for second on the team in goals and matched his entire total from all of last season with the Rangers.

At weekend afternoon contests, you don't expect to see much action but this game was a pleasant surprise in that regard. These teams clearly don't like each other as you could see late in the first period when lightweights Torey Krug and Nikita Kucherov fought each other. There were also plenty of skirmishes after the whistle all game long. Additionally, the Bruins potted a few pretty goals which for them is a big accomplishment in many ways. David Backes scored on a rare double deflection from Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug at 12:30 of the second period. It was Backes' fifth goal of the season and it gave Boston a 2-0 lead.

You know that it was the Bruins' day when Hayes scored his first goal of the season at 17:33 of the second for a 3-0 Boston advantage. Not only was it his first point of the season (in 20 games!) but dating back to last season, his first goal in 36 games. Seriously, when you are a 6-foot-5 forward in the NHL how is that remotely possible? Anywho, Chara happened to be next to me in the press box at the time (waiting to go downstairs to the locker room between periods) and like when a little kid that stinks at sports does something positive, Chara started clapping like a Little League dad or soccer mom when Jimmy got the proverbial monkey off his back (props to him for celebrating by throwing said monkey to the rafters).

Even for this limited offensive group, David Pastrnak just can't stop scoring goals. He threw the puck at the net in the third period and it deflected off a Lightning player past Bishop. Krug and Marchand assisted on Pastrnak's team-leading 13th goal of the season (2nd most in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby). Pasta has 10 points (9 goals, 1 assist) in his last 10 games. Is that good?

As weeks go in the NHL, this upcoming one doesn't look too daunting on paper for the Black and Gold: they are at the Flyers (9-10-3) on Tuesday (7:30, NESN, they host the Hurricanes (8-8-4) on Thursday (7, NESN) and go to Buffalo (7-9-5) next Saturday afternoon (1, NESN)-their second of 13 matinees this season. They have been a good road team so far this season (7-5-0) and whatever shape that they're in health-wise (John-Michael Liles left in the 1st period today with what looked like a concussion), I still expect them to beat the dregs of the Eastern Conference like those three blah opponents.

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Who Needs The Oscars If You Can See the B's No-Show at Home for the 100th Time This Season?

This is my fourth season covering the Bruins but I can sense that 2015-16 has been special in a certain way since I feel like I am living in the movie "Groundhog's Day." Every time that I come to TD Garden, I dream that this is the occasion when Boston (34-23-6) will actually put together a win-streak at home but then I usually go home disappointed after another horrid showing by the Black and Gold. Tonight, the Lightning (36-22-4) entered with the exact same amount of points (74) as the B's (with a game in hand) but they left little doubt as to who was the better team as they skated away with an easy 4-1 victory.

As usual, it was a strange contest here as Boston actually scored first but proceeded to allow four straight goals (including 2 on the power play and a penalty shot) to put it out of reach just halfway through regulation. Kevan Miller scored at 6:01 into the first period when his screened shot from the point went in past Tampa Bay's excellent goaltender (and former Maine Black Bear) Ben Bishop (32 saves). Jonas Kempainen won the faceoff and had the primary assist while Landon Ferraro picked up the second helper on Miller's fifth goal of the season.

Zac Rinaldo was placed on waivers today by the Bruins but somehow he could also play (explain that to me, better yet don't) in this tilt. He was called for an illegal check to the head of Lightning forward Cedric Paquette (who briefly went to the dressing room afterwards). Harvard hockey alum Alex Killorn tied it at 11:19 with a power play tally that such was a snipe that Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (26 saves) had little chance to stop it. Anton Stralman and Ryan Callahan assisted on Killorn's 12th goal of the season. Before you could say Crimson, Tampa Bay struck again as Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid hilariously fell down at the opposing blue line which allowed the Lightning to have an ultra-rare 2-on-0. Killorn fed Callahan for his ninth goal of the season at 14:39, they don't come much easier than that.

Tampa Bay was up 2-1 after the first period and Patrice Bergeron was nabbed for goaltender interference after bumping Bishop midway through the second. Seven seconds into their second power play, the Lightning once again only needed one shot (kid!) to make the Bruins pay. Callahan tipped in Stamkos' rocket from the point with Stralman picking up the second assist. Boston had no answer as Stamkos earned a penalty shot less than two minutes later when he was hooked down by Brad Marchand. It was the third penalty shot taken by Stamkos this season but he improved to 2 for 6 in his career on them. Rask had faced one another penalty shot this campaign (Feb. 16 vs. Columbus' Alexander Wennberg) and he is 4 for 8 in terms of stopping them. Stamkos' 28th goal of the season came at 10:04 and it extended his goal-streak to six games (7 goals, 2 assists).

We are mere hours away (3 pm on Monday) from the NHL Trade Deadline mercifully being over. Boston had done a pretty good job of not being distracted by it, that is until this evening when they flat-lined. More importantly, the Bruins' power play was 0 for 6 and if they make the postseason this spring, their special teams can't have outings like that or it promises to be a very short stay.

Loui Eriksson and many of the other B's will surely be anxious until that time passes. It's hard to predict what Boston's front office will do since this is GM Don Sweeney's first go-round so we don't have a track record to look back at in regards to his moves (or lack of deals) at the deadline. As the Bruins have been all season-long, they are an extremely flawed team that never makes any sense from game-to-game. Their latest blowout loss to a fellow Eastern Conference "contender" had to leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouth associated with the club.

Besides the deadline, it's another busy week on Causeway Street as Boston hosts Calgary (26-31-4) on Tuesday (7, NESN), the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks (39-20-5) on Thursday and then the best team in the Eastern Conference-the Capitals (45-12-4) on Saturday (7, NESN). The Bruins have to beat the Flames because any point earned against the two top teams in the league should be incredibly hard to come by.

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