In Tampa Saturday, the Lightning were looking to capitalize on a few days off as they hosted the Boston Bruins who were coming off a seven-game series with the the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Turns out the Bruins were far more prepared.
In Game 1 of their second series, the Bruins posted a 6-2 win with Rick Nash collecting two goals in the win.
Brad Marchand had a goal and Patrice Bergeron struck twice.
“It’s fun. We’re having fun,” Bergeron said. “We wanted to play a little bit simple at the beginning and put more pucks deep. We are good when we are fast on the forecheck and getting pucks back, so we just need to keep playing like that.”
Tuukka Rask made 34 saves to pick up the win.
“It was a tight game, especially early on,” Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara said. “I think we handled it well. We made some strong defensive plays and obviously, I think Tuukka made some really big saves for us at a crucial time in the game.”
For Nash, it was a break out game and he gave the Bruins an early 1-0 lead on the power play.
“I was just going to the net and goalies are so good now you have to take their eyes away, you have to get traffic,” Nash said. “I think it tipped off something before it hit my stick. But it was a nice shot from [Pastrnak] to get through the lane.”
Dan Girardi and Mikhail Sergachev scored for the Lightning.
The Bolts tried but could not close after the Bruins went up 3-1 in the second period.
“We just got a couple of plays that bounced our way,” Marchand said. “… So sometimes it bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t. We got a couple lucky ones today.”
Jake DeBrusk finished the scoring with an empty net goal at 13:41 of the third period.
“Besides the score, I thought we played pretty well to be honest,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “We had a ton of chances, their goalie made a ton of saves. I think the difference was they capitalized on their chances, especially that big line.”
[RELATED: All Bruins vs. Lightning highlights | Complete Lightning vs. Bruins series coverage]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves in the loss.
“For all the battle level we had in the offensive zone, if we turn that into the defensive zone for some of those plays, maybe they don’t go in,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I think that was frustrating for the guys, spending the amount of time they did in the offensive zone, not being rewarded, and the Bruins were rewarded for just coming down and making a play.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.