Bruins pull away from Lightning
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Boston Bruins came out of the All-Star break with a key road victory, trailing early but taking control for a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
Tampa Bay (22-23-6) tied the game in the third, but Boston (26-21-6) got the go-ahead goal from Zdeno Chara, then a power-play goal by Frank Vatrano to help the Bruins win their third straight.
Tampa Bay came into the game trailing Boston by six points for third place in the Atlantic Division and six out of the final wild card in the Eastern Conference, and while the game offered a chance to cut into those deficits, that opportunity slipped away.
The Lightning pulled goaltender Ben Bishop late and got a 6-on-5 goal from rookie Brayden Point, redirecting a shot from defenseman Victor Hedman to make it 4-3 with 2:04 to play. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask stopped one last shot to preserve the victory.
Boston's go-ahead goal came at full strength, but only three seconds after a brief 19-second power play after a 4-on-4 period. Chara scored his fourth goal of the season, beating Bishop to the far top corner of the net for a 3-2 lead with 12:09 remaining. Boston made it 4-2 on Vatrano's sixth goal of the season with 7:37 left and only 14 seconds into the power play.
Boston dominated the second period and start of the third with 23 shots to Tampa Bay's four in that span, but the Lightning tied the game on Alex Killorn's second goal of the game with 15:14 left in the third. Killorn's 15th goal of the season came off a loose puck in front of the net right after a faceoff in the Bruins' zone.
Tampa Bay managed only 21 shots, their second-lowest total of the season and lowest since November, when they had 18 in a 3-0 win against Philadelphia. Boston's penalty-kill unit continued its strong play, holding the Lightning scoreless in four power plays.
Boston rallied for a 2-1 lead with two goals in the final two minutes of the second period, including the go-ahead tally in the final second.
The Bruins tied the game with a 4-on-4 goal, as Patrice Bergeron redirected a long, low shot by defenseman Adam McQuaid to get the puck between the pads of Bishop. Bergeron's 12th goal of the season came 15 seconds after Boston committed a boarding penalty while on their only power play of the first two periods.
Boston got a buzzer-beater at the end of the second as center David Krejci fired a shot through two defensemen and past Bishop's glove for a 2-1 lead with 0.8 seconds left in the period. Krejci's 12th goal of the season took all the momentum away from the Lightning, who had grabbed the lead midway through the second.
After a scoreless first period, Tampa Bay jumped ahead on Killorn's first goal, a long shot that beat Boston goalie Tuukka Rask as he was screened by multiple players.
Tampa Bay outshot the Bruins 8-4 in the opening period, but the second was a different story. Boston outshot the Lightning 16-4, including the two late goals.
NOTES: The Lightning got the long-awaited return of rookie Brayden Point, out since Dec. 28 with an upper-body injury that cost him 14 games. While Point returned, the Lightning were without LW Michael Bournival (upper body). D Luke Witkowski was a healthy scratch, with newly recalled Jake Dotchin getting the nod instead. ... Boston came out of the All-Star break with no injuries, with C Austin Czarnik, D Joe Morrow and D John-Michael Liles as healthy scratches.