Shootout:
Round 1 — Tuukka Rask stops Valtteri Filppula // Ben Bishop stops Patrice Bergeron
Round 2 — Tuukka Rask stops Steven Stamkos // Loui Eriksson misses net
Round 3 — Tuukka Rask stops Ondrej Palat // Ben Bishop stops Carl Soderberg
Round 4 — Tuukka Rask stops Ryan Callahan // Ben Bishop stops Brad Marchand
Round 5 — Tuukka Rask stops Teddy Purcell // Jarome Iginla misses net
Round 6 — Tuukka Rask stops Victor Hedman // Ben Bishop stops David Krejci
Round 7 — Richard Panik hits post // Reilly Smith scores
Bruins win.
End overtime, 3-3:Â Both teams were up and down the ice in the final minute, and had there been another few seconds, Steven Stamkos would have had a breakaway all by himself. However, he wasn’t able to do that as the horn sounded when he was at center ice, and the game is going to a shootout.
Overtime, 4:10, 3-3:Â Steven Stamkos got a chance after Ryan Callahan blocked a shot from Zdeno Chara.
Stamkos couldn’t get free for an easy chance, though, as Jarome Iginla hustled back to slow Stamkos whose shot was stopped by Tuukka Rask.
Overtime, 3:17, 3-3:Â The Bruins have dominated the overtime so far, but Ben Bishop has stood tall (no pun intended) so far.
Overtime, 0:01, 3-3:Â Overtime is underway. The Bruins appear to be going with three forwards and a defenseman to start things.
End third period, 3-3:Â The Bruins got a ton of chances in the final mines of the third period, but they weren’t able to cash in. They just played a tremendous third period and will look to carry it over into overtime.
Third period, 16:00, 3-3:Â Tuukka Rask hasn’t been tested much this period, but he just made a big save on a charging Alex Killorn who put a quick snap shot on net that Rask turned away.
Third period, 14:40, 3-3:Â The Bruins’ third line has been fantastic tonight, and they almost added another goal.
Loui Eriksson was there for a rebound chance with little obstruction in front of the net, but Ben Bishop was able to cover up a loose puck before any damage could be done.
Third period, 13:30, 3-3:Â Reilly Smith is back on the Patrice Bergeron line here in the third period after Daniel Paille was on that line to start the period.
The B’s as a whole have been the far better team here in the third period. They’ve outshot the Lightning 9-3 so far, and they’ve done a very good job of cutting out the middle of the ice.
Third period, 8:39, 3-3:Â The Bruins came close to taking the lead, but the iron denied them again.
Milan Lucic hit the crossbar, which is the third time the Bruins have found iron this period.
Third period, 8:11, 3-3:Â The game is tied yet again.
Johnny Boychuk just tied the game with a blast from the right point that beat Ben Bishop clean to the goalie’s right. Bishop had no chance and never saw the puck.
Third period, 6:05, Lightning 3-2:Â The Bruins appeared to have tied the game with a power-play goal.
Zdeno Chara did some dirty work in front before Patrice Bergeron jammed home the loose puck . The original call was a dead puck as the whistle blew. Bergeron clearly scored before the whistle blew, but the referee ruled that he intended to blow the whistle, so the goal did not count, and Boston is still down one.
Third period, 4:18, Lightning 3-2:Â The Bruins will get a chance to tie the game on the power play.
Teddy Purcell was just given a questionable hooking call, and Boston will look for the power-play tally that would tie the game.
Third period, 3:36, Lightning 3-2:Â The Bruins have made a lineup change. Daniel Paille is now skating on the Bruins’ second line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, as Reilly Smith — in the middle of a 10-game goalless drought — has been temporarily demoted.
Third period, 0:01, Lightning 3-2:Â The third period is underway where the Bruins will have to come from behind if they want to win this game.
End second period, Lightning 3-2:Â The second period is over, and the Bruins are down a goal.
The Bruins, the best third-period team in the league, will have some work to do in the third period.
They’re outshooting Tampa 15-14 through two periods.
Second period, 15;12, Lightning 3-2:Â The game has certainly opened up here in the second period with both teams generating chances after a scoreless first period.
The Bruins’ fourth line has been great lately, and they’re back at it tonight. Daniel Paille just missed a chance to tie the game with what would have been his second goal of the game. He got behind the Tampa Bay defense, but he could have used one more step. He was caught up to just before he could get a good shot off.
The Bruins are actually outshooting Tampa 15-13 after not being able to put a shot on goal until more than midway through the first period.
Second period, 9:31, Lightning 3-2:Â Just 62 seconds after Carl Soderberg tied the game, the Lightning have the lead again.
Valtteri Filppula just gave Tampa the lead as he was able to score shortly after a Lightning faceoff win in the Boston zone. Filppula waited just long enough for Tuukka Rask to go down, and then he beat the goalie with a backhanded shot up under the bar.
Second period, 8:29, 2-2:Â We’ve got a tie hockey game.
Carl Soderberg got behind the Tampa Bay defense, and Chris Kelly found Soderberg after stealing the puck at the Boston blue line. Soderberg got in all alone and was able to slide a backhanded shot through the legs of Ben Bishop.
Second period, 6:59, Lightning 2-1:Â The Bruins are on the board.
Daniel Paille just made a fantastic play to score Boston’s first goal of the game. He took a pass from Gregory Campbell and knifed into the offensive zone. He was knocked off the puck a bit was able to recover just in time in front of the net to get a backhander on net. The puck somehow found its way by Ben Bishop.
Second period, 4:13, Lightning 2-0:Â Now the Bruins are chasing a pair of goals.
Mark Barberio just took a shot from the point that deflected off of Jarome Iginla’s stick in the high slot. The puck then had eyes, as it somehow got through Tuukka Rask who had really no chance with the traffic that was in front of him.
Second period, 0:27, Lightning 1-0:Â The Bruins weren’t able to score on the power play, and they allowed a shorthanded goal.
Tuukka Rask was burned when he came way out of his net to play a puck as Tyler Johnson barreled into the Boston zone for a potential shorthanded bid. Rask broke up the play at first, but he couldn’t control the puck. That allowed Ondrej Palat to take full advantage by shooting the second chance by the out-of-position Rask.
Second period, 0:01, 0-0:Â The second period is underway in Tampa.
End first period, 0-0:Â The Bruins had a couple of real solid chances in the final minute of the period on the power play, but they couldn’t find the back of the net. They’ll have some carryover power-play time to begin the second period where they’ll try to build on a solid end to the period.
The Bruins were outshot 7-5 in the first period.
First period, 18:33, 0-0:Â Milan Lucic just outshustled Mark Barberio to a puck in the Tampa Bay end, and Boston will get a power play out of it.
Barberio had to hook Lucic as the Boston forward skated toward the net for a potential scoring chance.
First period, 17:50, 0-0:Â The Bruins easily killed off the penalty without any shots on goal from the Lightning, and the teams are now event strength.
First period, 15:49, 0-0:Â Now the Bruins will have to try and kill off Tampa Bay’s first power play of the game.
Zdeno Chara was just called for roughing, and Boston will have to kill that.
First period, 13:56, 0-0:Â The Bruins just put their first shot on net, and it only took almost 14 minutes.
Chris Kelly put a soft wrist shot on net from the blue line, hardly a great chance.
First period, 12:25, 0-0:Â We’re more than halfway through the first period, and the Bruins are still searching for their first shot on goal.
The Lightning have seven shots on goal, and one of those seemed targeted for the back of the net. Richard Panik got a one-timer chance from the middle of the slot, but Tuukka Rask made a ridiculous pad save to keep the game scoreless.
First period, 7:59, 0-0:Â This has not been a very good start for the Bruins, and Shawn Thornton just tried to turn the momentum.
Thornton just dropped the gloves with Keith Aulie in the Boston zone. They traded a lot of punches in what was a pretty entertaining bout.
The Bruins need some sort of spark. They’ve yet to put a shot on goal and have only attempted a pair of shots in the first eight minutes.
First period, 3:45, 0-0:Â Not a very impressive power play for the Bruins, who were not able to generate much of anything.
The Lighthing actually had a couple of chances late in the kill on a couple of big blasts off the stick of Sami Salo. Fortunately for the Bruins, Tuukka Rask made the save on both.
First period, 1:38, 0-0:Â The Bruins are going to get the game’s first power play.
Victor Hedman just tripped Brad Marchand as the Bruins forward entered the zone, and the Boston man-advantage gets its first chance of the game.
First period, 0:01, 0-0:Â And we are off. The Bruins and Lightning are underway in Tampa.
6:31 p.m.:Â Pregame warmups are underway in Tampa Bay, and it will be Tuukka Rask in net for the Bruins, with Ben Bishop getting the start for the Lightning.
6:15 p.m.:Â Despite being in the top half of the NHL in goals allowed per game, the Lightning’s recent struggles have come in their own end. Over the course of their three-game losing streak the Bolts have allowed 13 total goals.
The Lightning have actually lost eight of their last 11 games and have allowed 37 goals over that stretch, which is an average of 3.4 goals per game. To put that in some sort of perspective, the Islanders are last in the league in goals allowed per game with 3.33 goals against per contest.
Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was one of the league’s best netminders for just about the entire year, but his play has dropped off some as of late. He’s lost five of his last eight starts, allowing 20 goals in those eight starts.
1 p.m.:Â Bruins fans are going to have to wait at least one more game to see the Boston debut of Anrej Meszaros or Corey Potter. Neither player will be in the B’s lineup on Saturday night against Tampa Bay.
Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters he was going to go with the same lineup on Saturday that he did Thursday against Washington. Meszaros hasn’t played since March 2 with the Flyers, and Saturday night will mark his 26th healthy scratch of the season. Potter hasn’t played an NHL game since Jan. 27 with the Oilers.
Here are the projected forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bruins.
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly — Carl Soderberg — Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille — Gregory Campbell — Daniel Paille
Zdeno Chara — Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski — Johnny Boychuk
Torey Krug — Kevan Miller
The Bruins went with an optional morning skate, so we’ll have to wait and see who the B’s start in net against Tampa.
12:30 p.m.: It’s been almost four whole months since the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, and to say a lot has changed since then might be a bit of an understatement. The two Atlantic Division teams will do battle on Saturday night for the first time since mid-November.
It was during that Nov. 11 meeting that Tampa Bay superstar Steven Stamkos went crashing into a goal post and broke his leg. Stamkos just recently returned Thursday, and he came back to a Lightning team that has undergone one big, dramatic change. The Lightning traded away one of the franchise’s greatest players on Wednesday at the trade deadline when they sent captain Martin St. Louis in a deal that brought New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan to Tampa.
This has all come during something of a tailspin for the Bolts. They enter having lost three in a row and seven of their last 10. After hanging around near the top of the division even without Stamkos, Tamap Bay has fallen to third in the division and fighting for its playoff life.
The Bruins, on the other hand, are on a bit of a roll after dropping their first two out of the Olympic break. The B’s have since won three in a row. They pushed that winning streak to three on Thursday night against the Washington Capitals with an absolutely dominant effort. In the process, Boston has closed the gap on the conference-leading Penguins who now sit just three points above the B’s with Boston having a game in hand as well.
The Bruins will look to extend that winning streak and get within a point of Pittsburgh on Saturday night beginning with puck drop at 7 p.m. ET.
