The Boston Bruins completed a successful road trip with a 4-3 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, giving them three straight wins for the first time this season.
The B’s took six of eight points on the trip, including wins over three Atlantic Division opponents.
Here’s a recap of Bruins-Lightning.
ROOKIE SCORING
Brandon Carlo opened the scoring with his second goal of the season at 4:01 of the first period. Boston’s rookie defenseman fired the puck at Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy from a bad angle and it snuck past the goal line.
PASTA’S BACK
Bruins forward David Pastrnak returned to the lineup after being suspended the two previous games because of a high hit against New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi last week. The third-year pro skated in his usual right wing spot on the first line alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.
He also was credited with Boston’s third goal, which came at the end of a tremendous shift by the Bergeron line.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Sean Kuraly made his NHL debut Thursday night. The 23-year-old forward was acquired by the Bruins from the Sharks as part of the trade that sent goaltender Martin Jones to San Jose before last season.
PENALTY KILL WOES
The Bruins were 2 for 4 on the penalty kill, giving up a power-play goal to Victor Hedman in the first period and Tyler Johnson in the second period. Boston has allowed five power-play goals in the last five games, but they still rank inside the top 10 in penalty-kill percentage. The B’s need to cut down on their penalties, though, because they’ve been shorthanded 45 times (third-most in the league).
In fairness, the Bruins did kill off a penalty in overtime.
SHOOTOUT HEROICS
Jimmy Hayes, who does not have a goal this season, scored the shootout winner for the Bruins in the 10th round. B’s goalie Tuukka Rask also made nine saves on 10 shots in the shootout.
UP NEXT
The Bruins host the New York Rangers on Saturday night at TD Garden. It’s the second meeting of the season between these Original Six teams.
Thumbnail photo via Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports Images. Videos via Chris Abraham of SB Nation
