Bruins outlast Lightning in shootout
TAMPA, Fla. -- Jimmy Hayes converted a shootout attempt in the 10th round to give the Boston Bruins a 4-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at Amalie Arena.
The Bruins picked up the victory despite blowing a pair of two-goal leads.
Brandon Carlo, David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner scored for the Bruins while Tuukka Rask made 30 saves through regulation and overtime, allowing more than a goal for just the second time in six starts this season. Rask stopped 9-of-10 Lightning shooters in the shootout.
The Bruins have won three consecutive games, all on the road.
Tyler Johnson scored twice for the Lighting while defenseman Victor Hedman notched his second goal of the season for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 28 saves and stopped 8-of-10 attempts in the shootout.
Carlo opened the scoring just 4:01 in to the game when the Boston defenseman skated with the puck from his spot at the right point and around the faceoff circle to put a bad-angle shot through a screen that eluded Vasilevskiy and dropped just inside the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Spooner one-timed a pass from Torey Krug past Vasilevskiy for a 2-0 lead at 10:47 on a power-play goal. Tampa Bay challenged the play for offside but review proved inconclusive on the back skate of Brad Marchand on the entry play.
Hedman pulled the Lightning to within one on a power-play goal at 15:09, one-timing a slap shot off a back pass from Nikita Kucherov.
Ondrej Palat appeared to pull Tampa Bay even early in the second period, but his goal was ruled to have been directed in to the net with a distinct kicking motion, keeping the Bruins in front.
Boston regained a two-goal lead when Patrice Bergeron sent a shot toward the net that deflected off Pastrnak at 4:38 before Johnson scored Tampa Bay's second power play goal of the game to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 8:30 of the second period.
Tampa Bay eventually caught the Bruins when Johnson notched his second goal of the game, getting his stick on a shot from Braydon Coburn to deflect the stick past Rask at 10:04 of the third period.
NOTES: Lightning LW Jonathan Drouin was scratched with an undisclosed upper-body injury suffered in the first period of Tuesday's game against the New York Islanders when New York D Calvin de Haan delivered a blow to Drouin's head. ... D Nikita Nesterov was a healthy scratch for Tampa Bay for the second consecutive game. ... LW Matt Beleskey, who signed a five-year, $19 million contract as a free agent with the Bruins prior to the 2015-16 season, was a healthy scratch along with D Joe Morrow. ... Boston C David Backes missed his fifth consecutive game with an elbow injury. ... Bruins C Sean Kuraly made his NHL debut. ... Boston RW David Pastrnak returned to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension.