Bruins halt skid; G Rask just misses shutout
BOSTON -- Jimmy Hayes notched his first goal and first point in 36 games and Tuukka Rask came within 2:39 of a shutout to help the Boston Bruins end a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
Hayes, who hadn't scored since Feb. 24 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, redirected a David Krejci pass past Ben Bishop to cap a three-goal second period for the Bruins, who had scored four goals during the losing streak.
As he waited for his teammates' congratulations behind the net, Hayes took an imaginary monkey off his back and flung it up over the glass. Some of his teammates also grabbed at the back of his jersey as he skated past the bench.
Hayes, whose brother Kevin leads the NHL in shooting percentage (28.6) and has 10 goals, had 57 shots on goal in the 35 scoreless games. Jimmy Hayes now has one goal on 34 shots this season.
Ironically, Hayes scored the shootout winner against the Lightning on Nov. 3 in Florida.
Rask stopped 30 Tampa shots until Victor Hedman deflected in a pass off the skate Boston defenseman Colin Miller to end what would have been Rask's fourth shutout of the season. Rask is 12-4, and Bruins are 0-6 in games he hasn't played.
The two wins over Tampa Bay (13-9-1) this season makes the Bruins 14-3-1 against the Lightning in the last 18 matchups.
Dominic Moore and David Backes scored the first two Bruins goals.
Moore's sixth of the season matched his season total from last year. Backes' fifth goal as a Bruin came on a power play to beat Bishop after a Torey Krug shot and then deflections by Patrice Bergeron and Backes.
David Pastrnak scored for the third straight game and for the ninth time in his last 11 when his centering pass went in off Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson -- Krug's second assist of the game on the play -- midway through the third period.
Bishop, a 5-3 loser at home to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night, stopped 26 shots. His team, playing without injured Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman, has lost three of its last four, and Bishop is 0-3 during that span.
Boston killed both Tampa Bay power plays and have killed all 16 in the last six games. The Lightning are 1 of 13 on the power play in their last three games.
Boston defenseman John-Michael Liles left the game in the first period after sliding head/neck first into the boards. Liles, killing a penalty five minutes into the game, ventured deep into the Lightning zone and appeared to trip over Bishop's stick. He lay motionless on his back for more than a minute before help arrived and was helped to his feet and then off the ice -- going right to the Bruins dressing room.
The club announced in the second period that he was out with an upper body injury and would not return.
NOTES: Bruins D Zdeno Chara missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. ... The Lightning, who are missing C Steven Stamkos (knee) long-term, also had D Anton Stralman (upper body) miss his eighth straight game and RW J.T. Brown (upper) his third in a row. ... The Lightning's 5-3 loss to Columbus on Friday night marked their first regulation loss (13-1-1) when scoring at least three goals (0-7 with three or fewer). ... The Bruins came in a perfect 14-for-14 in penalty killing the last five games. ... Bruins coach Claude Julien coached his 726th game for the team, tying him with Milt Schmidt for second place on Boston's all-time list, 46 games behind Art Ross. ... The Bruins came in 33-6-6 in their last 45 games against Tampa Bay. The Lightning have a rematch with the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Tuesday night, while the Bruins visit the Philadelphia Flyers the same night.