Lightning strike quickly, lead series

The Lightning got to the home plate area in front of Rask’s crease for two Ondrej Palat goals in the opening 3:19 and again for the dagger from Cirelli before the first intermission.

The Bruins’ inability to break the puck cleanly out of their end, combined with poor coverage after Tampa Bay dumped it back in, bumped the deficit back to two goals nearly immediately.

BY THE NUMBERS: 104-73 – the combined rate that the Bruins are being outshot after the first three games of the series between the Bruins and Lightning that shows a real alarming disparity in puck possession. In other words, Stammer has been completely off the board against Boston.

Tampa Bay did what they needed to do last night to get an important road victory.

The rest of the game went on this way and the Bolt took a 4-2 victory. That’s only six fewer than they gave surrendered in their worst previous playoff outing in a Game 1 win in Tampa. The last time Heinen’s ice-time was that low (he skated just 9:29 in Boston’s Game 5 against the Maple Leafs last round), he sat as a healthy scratch the next time around.

And no, the Bruins are not losing because of the referees or Tuukka Rask.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “They’ve played their game better than we’ve played ours in the last two games”.

And that isn’t on Rask.

They’re not getting it done, and sticking with it for one more game could be one game too many if there’s not a drastic change in their play.

Despite their denials, the Bruins clearly grew frustrated after their first-period foibles and their second-period struggles.

The Bruins bailed themselves out of putting Donato in the pressure spots of a Game 6 or Game 7 against the Leafs, citing a desire to ‘go with the guys that got them here, ‘ which was respectable and paid off by Game 7’s end.

Tampa Bay came out of the gate ready to play and Boston looked to be on their heels. Promo Marketing has covered the confusion that can come about when a fan plays the role of an interloper, so that matter and this one have us wondering what you think about sports franchises’ efforts to keep their performers top of mind.

Before it started, my prediction was Boston would win in six games. “We managed the puck really well tonight, we made them work for offence”. After a rough afternoon of doing so in Game 1, it’s been mission accomplished in Game 2 and now in Game 3. And that lead is deserved. Torey Krug took an ill-timed holding penalty midway through the second period, then was sent off an even more egregious tripping infraction with under two minutes to play and his team desperate to create any sort of offensive rush.

“The character in this room is something I’ve never been concerned about”. Krug took a holding minor behind the Boston net. “We’re in a playoff series and we’re playing like that”.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy admitted after Wednesday night’s Game 3 loss to the Lightning that lineup changes were possible, and he said after practice Thursday that it’s likely he’ll “tinker” with the lineup for Game 4.

Game 5 is Friday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He tipped in a Victor Hedman shot and scored his fourth goal of the playoffs and second of the series. The Bruins won that series in seven games en route to their sixth Stanley Cup title.

After Patrice Bergeron made it a one-goal game, Anthony Cirelli scored his first career National Hockey League playoff goal to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead late in the first.

This heavyweight battle of arguably the two best teams in the Western Conference has been fascinating to watch. For the Predators, it’s been Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, and Viktor Arvidsson leading the way.