Final, Bruins 5-0: That’s it and that’s all. This one was over a while ago, but it’s officially over now. The Bruins win it 5-0 and complete a Florida sweep.
Third period, 14:26, Bruins 5-0: Radko Gudas dropped Milan Lucic with a hit from behind late in these two teams’ meeting on opening night.
Jarome Iginla didn’t forget about that apparently.
After a play ended in the Boston zone, Iginla went after Gudas and eventually got him to drop the gloves. Those two also fought on opening night. It’s unclear whether it was some sort of retribution from opening night or something that happened in this one, but either way, Iginla has made it a point to protect his teammates so far this season.
Third period, 13:35, Bruins 5-0: Adam McQuaid almost went with B.J. Crombeen earlier, but Nate Thompson wasn’t as lucky.
The two just scrapped in a hearty bout deep in the Boston end with McQuaid feeding a bevvy of heavy right hands after the two went crashing into the boards with a scary-looking collision that McQuaid got the worst of.
Third period, 12:00, Bruins 5-0: Quick update on Tuukka Rask, who is in line for one of the easiest shutouts of his career.
Rask has only faced 19 shots so far, but he’s stopped them all. The biggest one, or at least the most impressive one, came just a few moments ago when he robbed Steven Stamkos, which we already mentioned.
Third period, 8:49, Bruins 5-0: The fifth power play of the game for the Bruins is unsuccessful just like the four that cam before it, but they’re still up 5-0, so it’s whatever.
Tuukka Rask — remember him? — has been solid in the limited shots he’s seen. He just made his save of the night, though, robbing Steven Stamkos on the doorstep to keep the shutout intact.
Third period, 5:25, Bruins 5-0: The Bruins will now get to work on their power play in what’s become a glorified practice.
Eric Brewer was just called for holding, so you would think the Bruins would use this time to work on some things in a game environment. At least that’s my suggestion.
Third period, 0:34, Bruins 5-0: Now the fourth line has gotten in on the act.
Shawn Thornton just carried the puck into the Tampa Bay zone on the left wing and ripped a wrist shot from the wing that went up over Anders Lindback’s shoulder for the 5-0 lead.
Third period, 0:01, Bruins 4-0: The third period — really just a formality at this point — has begun.
End second period, Bruins 4-0: The second period just came to an end, with the Bruins absolutely rolling.
Three of the four lines have scored so far, and the fourth line is the only one not to register a goal so far.
Second period, 15:47, Bruins 4-0: This one has become a laugher.
Chris Kelly just scored his third goal of the season, as he worked a gorgeous give-and-go with Brad Marchand. Kelly got a beautiful pass across the slot form Marchand and Kelly put it home.
That goal also chased Ben Bishop.
Second period, 14:52, Bruins 3-0: There’s certainly some chemistry developing for the Bruins’ second line.
Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith carried the puck into the zone when Eriksson passed it back to Smith at the top left part of the slot. Patrice Bergeron sprinted down the ice while beating Ryan Malone to the slot, and Smith found Bergeron who beat Ben Bishop five-hole.
Second period, 12:15, Bruins 2-0: No goal for the Bruins on the power play this time around, either.
Carl Soderberg made a terrific play that set up a chance, though. The big forward weaved in and out of traffic in front to find Dougie Hamilton creeping toward the net for a one-timer that Hamilton whistled wide.
Soderberg has been very good so far in his return to game action.
Second period, 10:13, Bruins 2-0: The Tampa Bay power play only lasted 1:06, and the shortened man-advantage wasn’t because of a goal.
Matt Carle was called for a holding penalty, and he heads to the penalty box. We’ll have 54 seconds of 4-on-4 time before the Bruins get another power play.
Second period, 9:06, Bruins 2-0: And Brad Marchand is going back to the penalty box.
He was just called for slashing (again), and he’s off to the box for the second time in this game.
Second period, 8:27, Bruins 2-0: Once again, it was a power play that featured a good amount of puck possession for the Bruins but was void of results.
The Bruins only got one shot on goal, but they certainly attempted a handful of shots, which included a shot from Dougie Hamilton that never got to the net, but deflected toward Loui Eriksson who was coming around the net. The puck looked to skip over Eriksson’s stick, though, and he couldn’t do anything with it.
Second period, 6:25, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins already look impressive here in the second period, and they’ll get a chance to add to their two-goal lead here via the power play.
Eric Brewer was just called for hooking, and Boston gets its second power play of the game.
Second period, 4:37, Bruins 2-0: Adam McQuaid sat down Thursday against the Panthers, but he’s back in the lineup for this one. He’s making the most of the opportunity.
The defenseman just scored his first goal in his last 24 games, as he scored with a wrist shot from the top of the offensive zone from straight-on. Jarome Iginla screened Ben Bishop in front — no small task — and McQuaid picked a spot and scored it.
McQuaid did a good job twice on that possession before even taking the shot of keeping the puck in the zone and keeping the play alive.
Second period, 0:01, Bruins 1-0: The second period is underway in Florida.
End first period, Bruins 1-0: The first period just came to an end with a near-chance for the Bruins at the end of the frame.
Brad Marchand chased down a puck in the Tampa Bay as the seconds ticked down, and he passed it to the front of the net for Carl Soderberg who eventually attempted a backhanded shot from the slot, but that came just as the horn sounded. Ben Bishop also made the save, so there was that, too.
First period, 18:20, Bruins 1-0: Carl Soderberg is making his first appearance of the season, and he certainly looks like he doesn’t want to go anywhere.
The Swedish winger just showed off his impressive offensive talent as he carried the puck into the offensive zone where he faked like he was taking the puck along the boards before cutting back to the middle of the ice. He tried to set up Chris Kelly in front, but the play was broken up by the Lightning at the last moment.
First period, 15:30, Bruins 1-0: Tampa Bay certainly had a lot of possession on the power play, but the Bruins are able to survive the second Lightning man-advantage of the period.
Tuukka Rask had a big save halfway through the period that produced a rebound that Patrice Bergeron eventually gathered and cleared.
First period, 13:26, Bruins 1-0: The Lightning are going back on the power play, thanks in large part to some tricky body work from B.J. Crombeen.
Dennis Seidenberg certainly interfered with the Tampa Bay forward, but Crombeen also certainly embellished the impact and threw his arms up as he went to the ice.
Only one of them was called for a penalty, and that means the Bruins are shorthanded again.
First period, 10:32, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins are going up against one of the most talented power plays in the game, but the B’s looked pretty good on their first kill.
Tampa Bay put two shots on net with Brad Marchand in the box, but there weren’t any real scoring chances for the Lightning, so we’re back to even strength with the B’s ahead 1-0.
First period, 8:29, Bruins 1-0: Boston had one small chance early in the power play, but they couldn’t do anything else to convert on the first chance.
Moments later, Brad Marchand was called for slashing, and the Lightning get their first power play of the game. The rough stretch continues for the Boston forward.
First period, 6:09, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins will also get the game’s first power play.
Sami Salo was called for holding, and the B’s — who scored a power-play goal on their first chance Thursday — get their first chance in this one.
First period, 2:06, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins’ third line followed up the Boston goal with a good shift that produced a scoring opportunity, and that was enough for B.J. Crombeen to drop the gloves.
Gregory Campbell obliged, and the two engaged in a good scrap that Crombeen is hoping wakes up his team after a somewhat lethargic start.
First period, 1:32, Bruins 1-0: That did not take long at all.
The Bruins got on the board first, thanks to a gorgeous full team effort. Tuukka Rask started it all with a toe save that he deflected to the wing and up the ice to start the transition.
Milan Lucic carried the puck up ice with a head of steam before finally passing it off to David Krejci who jammed home the one-time effort.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is underway.
7 p.m.: The Bruins are unleashing the Swede.
Carl Soderberg is making his season debut tonight, as he’ll be on the third line alongside Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand. That means Jordan Caron is the healthy scratch.
6:42 p.m.: The Bruins’ first, second and fourth lines are the same as they’ve been recently, and it appears that Brad Marchand is in the lineup on the third line alongside Chris Kelly. Who starts at the other wing, however, is still up in the air.
Both Jordan Caron and Carl Soderberg took line rushes on the third line during pregame warmups, so it’s unclear which one will get the nod in this one.
6:40 p.m.: According to line rushes, it looks like Matt Bartkowski will be the healthy scratch among the defensemen.
That’s not too much of a surprise. Tampa Bay brings a high-octane offense to the table, so you might want the veteran Adam McQuaid back in the lineup to help with that. And Dougie Hamilton scored a power-play goal in arguably his best game of the season on Thursday night.
6:30 p.m.: The two teams just took the ice in Tampa, and as expected, Tuukka Rask will start for the Bruins. Ben Bishop, who has been on fire lately, will get the start for the Lightning.
4:30 p.m.: The eyes of New England may be fixated on Fenway Park on Saturday night, but that might be at the risk of missing what could be a pretty good hockey game.
The Bruins are in Tampa Bay on Saturday night for their second matchup against the Lightning, a rematch of Boston’s 3-1 opening night win. Since the disjointed effort from Tampa, the Bolts have been much better. Tampa’s schedule has been pretty daunting, but the Ligtning have already beat the Blackhawks, Wild and Kings this season, three teams that are among the Stanley Cup favorites this season. Tampa Bay’s 5-2 reord puts them near the top of the newly formed Atlantic Division among a handful of teams with just two losses through the first couple of weeks of the season.
The Bruins, meanwhile, are looking for their first Florida sweep of the season. The B’s used a bit of a gift goal in the final minute Thursday night against old friend Tim Thomas to edge the Panther 3-2.
There could be plenty of lineup decisions to be mae for Claude Julien, too. Carl Soderberg has been cleared to return, which means the Swedish winger could be in the lineup Saturday night against Tampa. Who would sit in order to facilitate that return is still very much up in the air, though. For what it’s worth, Jordan Caron didn’t practice Friday as he sat with what was dubbed a “maintenance day” by Julien.
It will also be interesting to see what Julien does with his defense. Adam McQuaid was the healthy scratch for the first time this season Thursday night.
Puck drop from Tampa Bay is scheduled for 7 p.m.
