The Bruins could also be finished with doormats for some time, but it surely simply doesn’t matter.
Facing the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning, the B’s took the Bolts’ first-round punch after which withstood a late rally to attain their seventh straight victory, a 5-3 win at Amalie Arena on Monday.
The B’s received 5 totally different goal-scorers however the spotlight of the night time was a secondary help off the stick of Patrice Bergeron that earned the captain his 1,000th profession level. Fittingly, the objective was scored by Brad Marchand, who has been Bergeron’s linemate for over a decade, and it completed off a three-goal second interval that broke the sport open. Bergeron began the assault within the offensive zone and, after Jake DeBrusk touched the puck, Marchand gloved it down and scored, instantly pointing at Bergeron.
In an uncommon sight, the complete Bruin workforce piled over the boards and celebrated within the nook of the Tampa zone with Bergeron. The many Bruin followers at Amalie Arena began chanting “Bergy! Bergy!’ and even the Tampa followers confirmed a measure of respect.
“It means a lot,” Bergeron instructed reporters in Tampa. “The fans are big part of this game and it’s a special relationship. When you’re on the road, it’s great to see the atmosphere and the animosity and whatnot, but to see that, it was great. Obviously I appreciated it a lot. Fans are a huge part of the game and they make it special.”
And as normal, the win wouldn’t have been potential with out the work of Linus Ullmark, who made 32 saves. In his final 10 video games, he’s 9-1 with a .938 save proportion and 1.84 GAA.
The B’s knew they’d be seeing a more durable take a look at than they received on their dwelling ice by the likes of the Blackhawks or Canucks, and the primary 10 minutes of the sport didn’t disappoint. The Lightning landed the primary 9 pictures on objective – they held a 15-7 edge for the interval – and seemingly beat the Bruins to each unfastened puck.
Ullmark did his job to permit the B’s to seek out their legs and minds. But simply when the B’s have been beginning to get their sport so as, the Bolts lastly received on the board with an Alex Killorn objective at 8:57.
The B’s, nonetheless, had already reversed momentum they usually evened it up on a David Krejci (6) bomb, his fourth objective in three video games. Krejci took a cross-ice diagonal cross from Charlie McAvoy and gained the offensive zone unopposed. From above the correct circle, he unleashed a slapper that merely beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to the blocker aspect at 15:36.
“It was a huge goal by Krech to come out tied, but then we wanted to get to our game,” mentioned Nick Foligno. “Obviously we didn’t have that jump we needed to have in the first period and they came out with that push. But I think it shows a lot of what we have in here to not get flustered by that and we came out in the second and just took over.”
In a matter of 31 seconds within the second interval, the B’s had a two-goal lead.
The go-ahead objective got here on the facility play after Pierre-Edoard Bellemare broke Pavel Zacha’s keep on with a slash. On the benefit, Krejci fed Zacha for a one-timer that Vasilevskiy stopped however couldn’t management the rebound. Foligno, who took a handful of stitches after catching an errant puck within the face on the morning skate, stretched to knock the unfastened puck previous the netminder for his fourth of the 12 months at 5:07.
Then on the following shift, the B’s made it 3-1, although they wanted some assist to make it stick. Taylor Hall fed an onrushing Trent Frederic within the slot and Frederic received a backhander on internet that trickled behind Vasilevskiy within the crease. As Zach Bogosian knocked Charlie Coyle into the web and knocked it off its moorings, Coyle swept it over the objective line. It was initially waved off however a video overview rightly reversed the decision and Coyle had his sixth of the 12 months.
By the time Marchand scored his objective to make it 4-1 at 15:08, the Bolts seemed like they didn’t know what hit them.
“That’s what happens with our team. We just come in waves. Good teams do that,” mentioned Foligno. “It’s so hard to stop when the momentum’s going that way. We just jump on board and every line starts going and it’s dangerous.”
The B’s dominated the second, outshooting the Bolts 14-7, however they didn’t escape unscathed. Frederic crashed laborious into the tip boards and was favoring his left arm as he left the ice. He went again into the sport briefly however didn’t return for the third interval. Coach Jim Montgomery instructed reporters after the sport he was day-to-day with an higher physique damage.
The third was a bit of sloppy. First Pastrnak scored his twelfth of the season on the facility play, staring down a Tampa fan who was giving him the center finger behind the glass (the fan would shortly and sheepishly holster the digit). But the B’s received careless on the following shift. They coughed up the puck on a Hampus Lindholm-Tomas Nosek trade in their very own slot, ensuing a straightforward Rudolfs Balcers objective at 4:02. That allowed the Lightning again within the sport considerably and, after a ticky-tack slashing penalty on Coyle, they made it 5-3 on a Paul PP objective at 10:38.
At that time, Montgomery used his timeout to refocus his workforce and it did the trick. Ullmark must make 12 saves within the third, however with the best way this 17-2 workforce goes this 12 months, the B’s weren’t about to blow the sport on such a particular night time for the captain.
Source: www.bostonherald.com