BOSTON, Mass – Carry-over, blow-back, momentum-changing, all these words and more were lobbed at the direction of the Boston Bruins after they blew a 3-0 lead on the way to a 5-3 loss in game four.
Those words seemed a lot more prophetic than the recent “end of the world” prophecies when Simon Gagne wristed in a shot just 1:09 into the contest. The shot was the first shot of the game for the Lightning and it appeared the press might just be correct about the Bruins nerves.
The goal came out of a comedic tangle between David Krejci and Andrew Ference. The jumble started when Tampa Bay defenseman Brett Clark shoved Krejci over and Ference slipped and fell while trying to come to provide puck support for Krejci. Steven Stamkos gathered the puck and broke in to the left of Boston netminder Tim Thomas before finding Gagne.
There would be nothing to make even the most partisan Bruins fan believe it would be Boston’s night after the Lightning owned the play and outshot Boston by a 14-4 margin during the first frame.
“We had a lot turnovers in the first, and we were getting away from the game,” said Bruins forward Brad Marchand. “We wanted to get deep and then work down low in the corners. That’s our game. They have too much skill to be turning the puck over at the blue line, and they always get a lot of opportunities off the rush like that.”
Even though supposedly all the momentum in the world was in Tampa’s corner it would be the Bruins who would break through with three unanswered goals. Tampa Bay had two power play opportunities early in the period courtesy of a pair of interference calls against Nathan Horton. Boston held the Lightning off the board during those two power play chances and built off their success.
It would be Horton, the potential goat, who started the Bruins rally. The Bruins first goal came off a one-timer by the winger. The goal was keyed by a face-off win, one of the 58% the Bruins would win on the evening. The puck worked to Milan Lucic who put a perfect back-hand pass into Horton’s wheelhouse and within a flash the score was tied.
The eventual game-winning goal was collected on another cross-key pass by the Bruins. Patrice Bergeron had the primary assist when he found Marchand streaking towards the goal. Bergeron patiently waited for the speedy Marchand to get open and sent the pass onto his winger’s stick. In the blink of an eye the puck went into the goal and now the momentum belonged to Boston.
“We know we did not start out the game the way we would like to play,” said Thomas. “It shows a lot of character in the fact that we were able to come back in the second period and turn our game around.”
“Tampa showed that character in Game 4, the way that they did it and the way they were able to turn the game around. And we showed character tonight in the way we were able to turn the game around.”
With a slim lead the Bruins were not out of the woods. The third period would mainly belong to the Lightning as they fired 11 shots on goal to Boston’s eight in a desperate attempt to knot the contest. Thomas, who was a rock after the first shot eluded him, came up with several stunning stops to keep his team ahead.
Early in the period Thomas robbed Blair Jones who was so certain he had beaten the goaltender the forward celebrated a non-existent goal. Jones broke in alone and fired a shot that touched Thomas’s shoulder and then banged off the post.
“It hit off my shoulder and the post. It hit off my shoulder hard enough that I didn’t think it had even hit the post until after I saw the replay,” said Thomas.
“Actually, I kind of saw it out of the corner of my eye, just barely grazed the post, too. I saw it go in the corner. He put his hands in the air, or somebody did, and I was confused for a second because I didn’t think that it was in.”
Thomas’ second stunning stop came off the stick of Steve Downie in a save that is destined to be an all-time highlight. Downie collected a teammate’s shot off the backboard and fired at a seemingly open net. However Thomas dived stick first at the puck and Downie shot clanked off Thomas’ stick and out of danger.
“With the way the new boards are nowadays in all the arenas, you’ve got to be on your toes for those big bounces,” said Thomas. “The big bounce came out. It was just a reaction and a desperation. And I’ll admit I got a little bit lucky there.” Tampa continued to press, but never could find the tying goal. The final margin was set by Rich Peverley who collected his second goal of the playoffs into an empty net.
In a series that has gone back and forth now it is Tampa Bay’s turn to shake their heads and wonder what might have been.
“I’m really proud of the guys. They fight really hard. It’s extremely hard to play in this building,” said Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher. “To get 30 some shots and give the opponent only 20, you know, we usually should take that. But, against this goaltender, you need more. You need more. You need miracles. He’s making miracles. We have to come up with miracles.”
Seems likes a fitting statement the day after the world was supposed to end. Notes
Boucher and his staff decided to start Mike Smith in goal. Smith had been perfect in relief of Dwayne Roloson and Smith’s puck-handling ability helps to kick off the Lightning’s counterattack. Smith played very well and made 17 stops, but he could not match up with Thomas and his 33 stops.
Both teams lost players to injury during the course of the game. Tampa Bay lost Sean Bergenheim, the NHL’s leading goal-scorer during the playoffs, in the first period. Boston was without the services of third defenseman Johnny Boychuk who was smoked into the boards by Downie. After the game both coaches announced their players were okay and were both probable for game six.
Zdeno Chara is a Norris Trophy finalist and receives a ton of publicity for his play. In fact Chara played 26:21 during game five. Yet he was not the Bruins defender with the most ice time. Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins in ice time with an amazing 29:11 TOI.
A lasting memory of game five will be Downie sitting alone on the Lightning bench for minutes after the contest had concluded.
Game six will take place in Tampa on Wednesday night. Should the Lighting win, game seven will be played in Boston on Friday night.
Contact Tom.Schettino@prohockeynews.com
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