BOSTON — It had been nearly two months since Steven Kampfer had last scored a goal.
The drought spanned 17 games, not including the three he sat out as a healthy scratch.
But the Bruins rookie defenseman finally found the back of the net again with a huge goal early in the second period of Thursday's 2-1 win over Tampa Bay.
That tally tied the game at 1-1 just 2:02 after Tampa defenseman Eric Brewer opened the scoring with a point shot that deflected in off Kampfer and past goalie Tim Thomas. Kampfer responded by firing in a shot of his own through traffic in front on his next shift for his fifth goal of the season.
"Obviously it was a nice goal he scored, we talked about our D sliding toward the middle there and being a little bit more mobile on the blue line," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "That's what he did and obviously a big goal for us."
Milan Lucic later won it for the Bruins with 3:42 left in the third, but Kampfer wasn't around to see the game-winner.
Kampfer was hit hard in the corner by Tampa forward Mattias Ritola at 7:58 of the second. He played two more shifts later in the period, but did not return for the third and will have the severity of his injury determined after an examination Friday.
"Him not coming back, obviously he got his bell rung and the doctors want to be cautious and kept him off," Julien said. "He'll be reevaluated tomorrow and we'll see how he feels."
