Even after two impressive victories, the Bruins have again displayed it's going to be a grind all the way to the end of the regular season.
Third period, 2:07, Lightning 5-3: Tampa Bay was whistled for too many men, and the Bruins have called a timeout. They've been punishing the Tampa Bay zone in the last few minutes, but it looks to be a little too late.
Third period, 8:10, Lightning 5-3: This building really came to life after the last goal. Zdeno Chara did a nice job to keep the puck in the Tampa Bay zone and worked the puck back to Dennis Seidenberg, who sent a rocket toward the net. The puck eventually found Mark Recchi's stick, and he trimmed Tampa Bay's lead.
Third period, 10:11, Lightning 5-2: Back to Teddy Purcell for a minute. This would be his senior year at Maine had he stayed on campus, but the ultra-talented forward left after a great freshman season and a trip to the Frozen Four. Purcell played at a level that most college kids simply couldn't compete with, and he was such a smooth, confident, creative skater. Purcell and former Terrier Colin Wilson are the two best college hockey players I've gotten a chance to cover in five years around Hockey East.
Third period, 12:40, Lightning 5-2: Andrej Meszaros was whistled for interference. The Bruins haven't scored a power-play goal in 20 consecutive chances. What's more likely — a Bruins power-play goal or Syracuse losing to Butler? Oh, wait.
Third period, 16:32, Lightning 5-2: And Mark Stuart will hit the box for a two-minute tripping penalty. The Bruins' special teams have been awful Thursday night, so this isn't a good sign for a team that is trailing by three goals.
Third period, 17:00, Lightning 5-2: Paul Szczechura has scored 40 percent of his goals this season in Thursday night's game. His hard wrister from the low slot flew past Tuukka Rask, and the Lightning are running away with this thing.
Third period, 18:38, Lightning 4-2: Dennis Wideman got two minutes for kneeing, and the Lightning are trying to add a second power-play goal to put this game out of reach.
Third period, 19:30, Lightning 4-2: Patrice Bergeron skated into the Tampa Bay zone and dove toward the net trying to flip the puck past goalie Antero Niittymaki. Bergeron was a little wild with the dive, and he wound up taking out the Tampa netminder. That's when Andrej Meszaros took it upon himself to tackle Bergeron behind the net, but no penalties were called.
End of second period, Lightning 4-2: The Bruins are outshooting Tampa Bay 31-15, but the Lightning are making their chances count while the B's can't find the back of the net. If the Bruins come out with more energy in the third period, I'd have to believe they can generate a couple of goals against a fairly unimpressive Lightning team, but I think we've already said that about the B's a few times this season.
Second period, 0:26, Lightning 4-2: This is just weird. The Bruins aren't playing great, but they're definitely outplaying Tampa Bay. Yet, Steven Stamkos' one-time slap shot gave the Lightning a power-play goal and a nice advantage late in the period.
Second period, 2:06, Lightning 3-2: Blake Wheeler drew an interference penalty, and the Lightning have their first power play of the night.
Second period, 2:48, Lightning 3-2: This is pretty amazing. There's a fan in a Gumby costume wearing the Bruins' alternate jersey. Well played.
Second period, 4:08, Lightning 3-2: Actually, is it really lazy when you play Good Charlotte? It's obviously irresponsible, but maybe not lazy. I mean, it has to be stored on the computer somewhere, but you still have to actually go and find a song by Good Charlotte and then put some kind of effort into playing it, right? Whatever, this is the last time I'll bring up this topic, I promise.
Second period, 6:00, Lightning 3-2: The Bruins had a couple of good chances on the man advantage, but Michael Ryder's best bid was stuffed after he charged toward the net along the goal line.
But there's something else I really need to touch on here, something much more important. The Garden just played a Good Charlotte song, and that's just lazy and uncalled for, kind of like a stick infraction and a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty all at once. Let's be better than that, guys.
Second period, 8:17, Lightning 3-2: Andrej Meszaros got a minor for tripping, and the Bruins get their first power play of the game. We'll wake you up in two minutes if you need a quick nap.
Second period, 9:18, Lightning 3-2: Johnny Boychuk has been getting it done lately, and he has gotten the Bruins within a goal midway through the second period. Boychuk's wrister from the right circle breezed through Antero Niittymaki's blocker, and the B's are back in it. David Krejci got his second assist of the game on the goal.
Second period, 13:10, Lightning 3-1: Tough change in momentum for the Bruins. Antero Niittymaki made a great save with the right pad to knock aside Shawn Thornton's one-timer from the slot, and the Lightning added to their lead on the other end. Paul Szczechura took a quick shot that deflected past Tuukka Rask, and the Bruins are in danger of losing to one of the worst teams in the NHL.
Second period, 15:00, Lightning 2-1: Victor Hedman is hot and went after Steve Begin with a couple of extra hits on his last shift, and after Tampa Bay cleared the puck out of the zone, Hedman briefly skated toward the middle of the neutral zone, perhaps trying to draw a fight. Stay tuned for this one.
Second period, 16:14, Lightning 2-1: Mark Recchi and Victor Hedman went at it after the last whistle, but the officials broke it up before they could really square off. Oh well.
Second period, 17:02, Lightning 2-1: Shawn Thornton and Kurtis Foster went into the corner together in the Tampa Bay zone, and Foster hit his head on the boards and fell to the ice for a couple of minutes. Foster has since gone to the bench, and there was no penalty called, nor should there have been.
Second period, 19:06, Lightning 2-1: David Krejci recorded the 100th assist of his career in the first period.
Second period, 19:57, Lightning 2-1: Who's up for some more hockey?
End of first period, Lightning 2-1: That was obviously a big goal for the Bruins, who weren't so much getting outplayed as they just didn't have enough jump against a fairly lifeless Lightning team.
This is one of those "show me" games for the B's, who are coming off of two impressive victories and need to do it again against the Lightning. Tampa Bay is just playing out the string and will be golfing in two weeks. Since the Bruins don't want to be competing for tee times, they've got to beat these bottom feeders.
First period, 0:27, Lightning 2-1: Now, that's a nice goal right there, too. David Krejci sent the puck to the front of the net, and Zdeno Chara made a great play to change the direction of the shot as Antero Niittymaki was sliding to his right. Chara redirected the puck to Niittymaki's left, and the goalie couldn't get his glove on it.
First period, 1:08, Lightning 2-0: Mark Stuart got two minutes for roughing, and Steve Downie earned a pair for elbowing, so the teams will play four-on-four hockey for a couple of minutes.
First period, 1:55, Lightning 2-0: Sometimes, you've just got to tip your cap. Vincent Lecavalier had the puck above the left circle and faked a slap shot — uncorking the stick and everything — before sending a nice pass through the slot to Martin St. Louis, who just needed to get enough of his stick on the puck to redirect it past Tuukka Rask.
First period, 4:30, Lightning 1-0: Zdeno Chara did a nice job breaking up a Lightning two-on-one with Vinny Lecavalier and Teddy Purcell. They didn't even get off a shot after Chara blocked a pass through the slot with his stick. Don't even get me started on Purcell. I'll rave about the former Maine star eventually in this blog. This kid is going to do some big things in his career.
First period, 8:27, Lightning 1-0: Steve Stamkos scored his 44th goal of the season earlier, and he's got more goals than Boston's top-two scorers — Marco Sturm (21 goals) and Blake Wheeler (17) — combined. You can even thrown Zdeno Chara's five goals in that one, and it's not as many as Stamkos.
First period, 9:42, Lightning 1-0: This Tampa Bay team kind of reminds me of the Blackhawks from a couple of years ago. The Lightning have some really talented forwards, led by top pick Steve Stamkos, along with Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone and Steve Downie. There's just not enough talent to back up those guys at this point.
First period, 10:10, Lightning 1-0: A "Let's go Bruins" chant briefly erupted, as the crowd has tried to energize a pretty dreary atmosphere thus far at the Garden.
First period, 19:11, Lightning 1-0: That didn't really take all that long. Steve Downie sent a pass across the Boston zone to Steven Stamkos, who redirected the puck past Tuukka Rask's left blocker to give the not-so-electric Lightning an early lead. Former Maine star Mike Lundin also got an assist on the goal.
First period, 19:59, 0-0: The Bruins and Lightning are officially underway at the Garden.
6:27 p.m.: Beginning with Thursday's games, the NHL has implemented a new rule barring "a lateral, back-pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact."
Commissioner Gary Bettman said in the league release that the elimination of these hits should "significantly reduce the number of injuries, including concussions, without adversely affecting the level of physicality in the game." With such strong words, you wonder why these hits weren't already prohibited. Oh, and with a rule that was brought to light after Marc Savard's concussion, you also wonder why Matt Cooke wasn't penalized, suspended or fined.
6:24 p.m.: The Garden is still quiet, as fans are just beginning to stroll in and find their seats. We're about 45 minutes from faceoff, and Tuukka Rask will be in net for the Bruins.
8 a.m.: The Bruins are coming off consecutive victories, and they've won three out of four games for the first time since returning from the Olympics. It's been an impressive week for the B's, whose wins against the Rangers and Thrashers have created a nice cushion for the final playoff spot.
Boston can't let up, though. It has a pair of winnable games before entering a brutal eight-game stretch to close out the regular season. Stick with NESN.com's live blog as the Bruins battle the Lightning on Thursday night at the TD Garden. The puck drops at 7 p.m. on NESN.
