Bruins Live Blog: B’s Take 3-1 Victory in Game 5 at Garden, Move One Win Away from Stanley Cup Final Berth

Final, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins got great goaltending from Tim Thomas and just enough offense as they pull out a 3-1 win and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Final.

They’ll have they first chance to close out the series and move on to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990 in Game 6 in Tampa on Wednesday.

Third Period, 19:47, Bruins 3-1: The Lightning finally get Smith pulled with just over 40 seconds left, and Rich Peverley takes advantage with the empty-netter to ice this one.

Third Period, 18:52, Bruins 2-1: The Lightning now use their timeout. Smith has not come to the bench for the extra attacker with a faceoff just outside the Boston zone after a Tampa offsides.

Third Period, 18:06, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins use their timeout as Claude Julien sets up some late strategy with a faceoff in the Tampa end and just under two minutes left to play.

Third Period, 16:50, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins come close twice to adding a fluke goal, as Bergeron’s long-range turnaround shot goes off Smith’s glove and just over the net, then a Horton dump-in takes a weird bounce off the boards and goes through the crease.

Third Period, 15:37, Bruins 2-1: The Lightning generating plenty of chances now, with Stamkos having a bid at the left post and Adam Hall a chance at the right post a short time after, but Thomas keeps everything out.

Third Period, 12:54, Bruins 2-1: The best power play of the night for the Bruins generates a pair of shots and plenty of pressure, but still no goals.

Third Period, 10:54, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins will go on the power play as Steve Downie is sent to the box for boarding.

Third Period, 10:24, Bruins 2-1: With the crowd roaring after Bill Belichick was named fan of the game during the last TV timeout, the Bruins nearly pad the lead, but Krejci is denied on a bid from the right circle off a feed from Lucic behind the net.

Third Period, 9:36, Bruins 2-1: The Lightning nearly tie it again as Steve Downie has a point-blank bid at the left post on a rebound off the end boards, but thomas reaches back to make a spectacular save. Chara then nearly scores on a backhander in close at the other end, but Smith snares it with the glove.

Third Period, 8:09, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins finally get their first shot of the period, and it’s from Tomas kaberle of all people as he breaks in down the left side for a bid off a feed from Tyler Seguin.

Third Period, 5:31, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins finally mount some pressure with a strong shift by the Bergeron line, but still can’t get a shot through to Smith. The Bruins have been outshot 5-0 so far in the third.

Third Period, 3:25, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins cough it up in deep as Marchand loses control along the boards, but Thomas smothers a Vincent Lecavalier bid from the slot.

Third Period, 1:50, Bruins 2-1: The Lightning come within inches of tying it as Blair Jones drives down the left wing, cuts to the front and clangs a shot off the far right post.

Third Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-1: The final frame is under way here at the Garden, with the Bruins holding a one-goal lead and looking to close out a win to retake the series lead in this Eastern Conference Final.

Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins still aren’t generating a ton of chances, but they converted two of the one they got and that’s enough for a 2-1 lead after two periods.

The second period was more evenly played, with Tampa holding just a 9-8 edge in shots (23-12 for the game). The Bruins have again struggled on the power play with no shots on three chances. Their penalty kill has made up for that, holding the Lightning 0 for 4 with the man-advantage.

The one area the Bruins are dominating is in the faceoff circle, where they are 29-17 (63 percent). It’s been a balanced workload too, with Rich Peverley 4-0, Chris Kelly 5-2, David Krejci 10-6 and Patrice Bergeron 9-7. Boston also picked up the physical game, and now leads 19-12 in hits with Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic each collecting three hits. Horton has had trouble controlling himself with two straight interference penalties, but he made up for that with Boston’s first goal. Brad Marchand got the other goal for his first point of this series. That came off a feed from Bergeron, but Zdeno Chara made the play with a strong pinch in deep to create the chance. Chara is plus-1 with that assist and three shots in 16:35 as the captain has brought an inspired effort to this game.

Tim Thomas (22 saves) has been huge as well, while the Bruins finally tested Mike Smith in the second and got two of their eight shots past him. He can be beaten and the Bruins need to get more chances on him in the third.

End Second Period, Bruins 2-1: The second period is in the books and that one had a much better result for the Bruins, scored scored the only two goals of the frame to take a 2-1 lead into the third.

Second Period, 15:56, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins take their first lead of the game as Brad Marchand one-times a chance in front.

Patrice Bergeron sent the pass out from the right boards to Marchand in the left slot, but it was Zdeno Chara pinching in deep that created the chance.

Second Period, 13:40, 1-1: The Bruins can’t get much going on that power-play chance either, failing to put a shot on goal and struggling to keep possession of the puck in the Tampa zone.

Second Period, 11:40, 1-1: The Bruins get another power-play opportunity as Zdeno Chara draws a hooking call down low on Eric Brewer. Marchand nearly scored on the delayed call with the extra attacker on.

Second Period, 10:29, 1-1: Tyler Seguin gets his first shift in a while and almost breaks in alone, but Smith gets out in time to poke the puck away from the youngster.

Second Period, 9:05, 1-1: The Bruins can’t convert on that chance, as the sides are back at even strength with all of the penalties expired.

Second Period, 7:05, 1-1: The Bruins will have a 4-on-3 power play as Mattias Ohlund is sent off for hooking.

Second Period, 6:42, 1-1: There will be some 4-on-4 play as Tampa’s Ryan Malone is called for interference, but Brad Marchand is also sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Second Period, 6:33, 1-1: The Lightning nearly take the lead right back with Steven Stamkos leading a 2 on 1 that becomes a 3 on 2 and Brett Clark joins the rush as a trailer and drives down the middle, only to be denied by a Thomas pas save.

Second Period, 4:24, 1-1: The Bruins tie it up as Nathan Horton makes up for his penalties with a blast from the left slot.

David Krejci started the play with a clean faceoff win to Milan Lucic, who skated to the right side and slid a backhand pass to Horton back on the left for a one-timer that sailed past Smith.

Second Period, 4:07, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins kill that penalty off as well. Thomas and the PK are about the only positives so far for the Bruins in this one, as the shot count now reads 17-5 in favor of Tampa.

Second Period, 2:07, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins are right back on the penalty kill and Nathan Horton is right back in the box for another interference call.

Second Period, 1:17, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins kill off the rest of the penalty, and Thomas robs Steve Downie at the left post just seconds after it expired to keep it a one-goal game.

Second Period, 0:00, Lightning 1-0: The middle frame is under way, and the Bruins will need a much better effort than what they showed in the first. They’ll have to start by killing the final 1:10 of Horton’s interference penalty though.

Ask Brick: Have a question about the Bruins’ performance in Game 5? NESN analyst Andy Brickley will be answering one question from a Bruins fan during the second intermission of the game.

Submit your question here and check back on NESN.com to see if yours was selected.

First Intermission Notes: There weren’t many positives to mention from that opening period, as the Bruins were thoroughly outplayed by the Lightning.

Boston was a step behind most of the period, and when a Bruin did arrive at the puck at the same time, they lost most of the battles for possession. After struggling with turnovers for much of this series, the decision making was even worse, with one turnover leading to the game’s only goal. The Bruins actually got away with a number of head-scratching decisions, tossing pucks up the middle of the ice and cutting back into traffic instead of away from danger. And in some very bad penalties and it was a recipe for disaster.

Only the solid play of Tim Thomas has kept the Bruins in this game and given them a chance to turn things around in the second. He’s stopped all but one of the 14 shots Tampa has put on him. The Bruins, meanwhile, have done nothing to test Mike Smith in the Lightning cage, putting just four shots on him all period.

Tyler Seguin took one of the Bruins’ bad penalties with an offensive-zone trip to negate a power play. He has no shots in 3:53 and Rich Peverley took the final shift of the period on that line with Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder.

End First Period, Lightning 1-0: The first 20 minutes are in the books, and the Bruins are lucky to be down just one goal after being thoroughly dominated by Tampa in that frame.

First Period, 18:13, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins ae shorthanded yet again, with Nathan Horton taking a needless interference penalty for blasting Nate Thompson in the neutral zone.

First Period, 18:13, Lightning 1-0: Tyler Seguin’s magic seems to be running out, as Rich Peverley takes his shift with Kelly and Ryder here late in the first.

First Period, 16:50, Lightning 1-0: Finally some life from the Bruins, as Nathan Horton probably gets away with a hit on Smith behind the net, then David Krejci blasts Marc-Andre Bergeron as Smith ties up the puck. Boston still being outshot 13-3, but at least they showed a bit of fight at last.

First Period, 14:17, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins spent nearly the full two minutes bottled up in their own zone, but they manage to survive the penalty without falling behind further.

They are fortunate to be trailing just 1-0 as Tampa has dominated play so far. That’s reflected in the Lightning’s 12-2 edge in shots.

First Period, 12:17, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins will be shorthanded again as Andrew Ference picks up a cross-checking minor for a shot on Steven Stamkos, who beat Marchand to a loose puck and broke in alone of Thomas. Thomas made the save as he was run over by Stamkos, but Stamkos was helped into him by the cross-check.

First Period, 11:26, Lightning 1-0: The Lightning are spending way too much time in the Boston zone as the Bruins struggle to contain Tampa’s speed and clear the puck. The Lightning have been a step ahead most of the night so far and hold an 8-2 lead in shots.

First Period, 8:45, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins kill that penalty off without any serious threats as the teams are back to even strength.

First Period, 6:45, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins don’t generate any threats on that power-play chance, which ends early with Tyler Seguin called for tripping in the offensive zone. It will be 4 on 4 for 28 seconds, then the Lightning have their first power-play opportunity.

First Period, 5:13, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins get the first power play of the night as Vincent Lecavalier goes off for tripping up Bergeron.

First Period, 4:56, Lightning 1-0: Mark Recchi almost sends Marchand in alone down the middle but they just miss connecting. THe Lightning are forced to ice it though, so the Bruins have a faceoff deep in the Tampa zone.

First Period, 1:09, Lightning 1-0: The first goal comes quick as well, as Tampa strikes on its first shot of the game with another score by Simon Gagne.

He finishes a 2 on 1 with Steven Stamkos from the left side after a turnover just inside the Tampa blue line sprung the break.

First Period, 0:24, 0-0: Don’t have to wait long for the first big hit of this one, as Mattias Ohlund lays out Brad Marchand at the Tampa blue line.

First Period, 0:00, 0-0: Game 5 is under way here at the Garden, with the Bruins looking to bounce back from Saturday’s loss and retake the lead in the Eastern Conference Final, which is tied 2-2 heading into this one.

8 p.m.: The Bruins will open as usual with Patrice Bergeron starting up front between Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi, with Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on defense and Tim Thomas in goal.

The Lightning counter with Nate Thompson, Vincent Lecavalier and Adam Hall up front, Eric Brewer and Mattias Ohlund on the blue line and as mentioned earlier, Mike Smith getting the start in net.

7:55 p.m.: The Bruins have officially scratched Shawn Thornton, Shane Hnidy and Steven Kampfer along with the Black Aces. They’ll go with the same lineup they’ve had since Patrice Bergeron returned in Game 3.

The Lightning have scratched Dana Tyrell, Randy Jones, Pavel Kubina (upper body), Mathieu Roy, Mattias Ritola and Matt Smaby. Steve Downie is in the lineup.

7:50 p.m.: Have a question about the Bruins’ performance in Game 5? NESN analyst Andy Brickley will be answering one question from a Bruins fan during the second intermission of the game.

Submit your question here and check back on NESN.com to see if yours was selected.

7:45 p.m.: The Bruins had their usual line combinations for the drills in warm-ups. Shawn Thornton, Shane Hnidy and Steven Kampfer all skated in the warm-up, but did not participate in the line drills, so it appears they will be the healthy scratches once again.

Here are the full line combinations from warm-ups:

Lucic-Krejci-Horton

Marchand-Bergeron-Recchi

Ryder-Kelly-Seguin

Paille-Campbell-Peverley

Defense pairs:

Chara-Seidenberg

Kaberle-McQuaid

Ference-Boychuk

7:30 p.m.: In a mild surprise, Mike Smith leads the Lightning out for warm-ups. Tampa coach Guy Boucher will be making the goalie switch after all.

Tim Thomas leads the Bruins out as expected.

Also, Steve Downie is on the ice for the Lightning in the pre-game skate. He did not return after being hit into the boards by Nathan Horton late in the second period in Game 4.

7 p.m.: The Bruins will look to shake off Saturday’s devastating defeat when they blew a 3-0 lead in the first period and dropped a 5-3 decision in Game 4. But the Bruins have shown a remarkable ability to bounce back from such losses, and will look to do so again in this one.

“I think we’re a resilient team, no doubt about that,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “You hear that word quite often. But we realize that we’re also a team that has given up some leads, and we need to get better in that area. But even if we have done that, the one thing we have been able to do is bounce back. And we understand our faults and we understand where we’ve gone wrong. And the next game we try and redeem ourselves. This team is one of those teams that has done that all year. I don’t expect any different from them going into the game tonight.”

Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg is confident the Bruins will put Saturday’s loss behind them.

“It’s not too hard,” Seidenberg said. “We’ve done it in the past. We use it as motivation to come out even stronger tonight and do what we didn’t do in the last two periods [on Saturday].

“Our team’s pretty experienced and we’ve got a lot of veteran leadership in this room and that makes it easier for us to forget about those letdowns,” Seidenberg added. “And again tonight we’ve got to do that.”

6 p.m.: The Bruins and Lightning won’t renew hostilities in Game 5 for another couple hours, but there’s already been plenty going on here at the Garden.

The Bruins are expected to ice the same lineup that they’ve used in the last two games, which includes embattled defenseman Tomas Kaberle. Bruins coach Claude Julien came to Kaberle’s defense after the morning skate, showing support for the veteran blueliner and announcing that Kaberle will stay in the Bruins’ lineup.

The Lightning are hopeful Steve Downie will be able to play after leaving Game 4 with an upper-body injury, but a decision on his status won’t be made until closer to game time. It appears that Dwayne Roloson will get the start in goal again for Tampa, as he was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate. But Tampa coach Guy Boucher remained somewhat vague in his comments regarding the goaltending situation, leaving a slight chance that Mike Smith could get the nod after his strong relief performance on Saturday.

8 a.m.: The Bruins bounced back after a disappointing showing in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, winning the next two games.

They had a chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Saturday after building a 3-0 lead in the first period. But after the Lightning rallied for a 5-3 win to even the series, the Bruins now find themselves needing to bounce back again and shake off that setback as the series shifts back to Boston for Game 5 on Monday.

Bruins coach Claude Julien is confident his club will be able to put that loss behind it and come out with the kind of effort needed to get back ahead in the series.

“We’re fine,” Julien said. “I think this is what hockey’s all about. It’s a tight series and we understand that we didn’t do a very good job from the second period on [Saturday]. And you have to think about what you need to do [Monday] to be able to bounce back. And that’s all we’re thinking about right now. You make corrections, make adjustments, you do what you have to do. But when you’re this far into the playoffs, you certainly don’t let the mental part of the game get to you.”

The Bruins showed the kind of effort they need in Game 3 when they posted a 2-0 shutout. They maintained that level of play for one period of Game 4 before things went dramatically downhill fast. Julien isn’t looking for major changes, just a return to the intensity and execution they showed for their first four periods in Tampa.

“I just need us to be ready and focused,” Julien said. “I think everybody understands what we did wrong because we’ve certainly addressed it. Now it’s time to turn the page and correct those things and move on. I think we need to think about what we have to do [Monday] than what we did [Saturday]. You make minor adjustments but you don’t change your system and you don’t change your style of play. So we just have to be focused on [Monday] and making sure that what we did in the first period [Saturday] is what we have to do for three periods.”

The Lightning aren’t looking for major changes either, with coach Guy Boucher planning to stick with Dwayne Roloson in goal despite having to pull him twice in this series already. Backup Mike Smith has yet to allow a goal in his two relief appearances, making 21 saves for the win on Saturday. But Roloson, who led the league in postseason GAA and save percentage coming into the series, will get the call again.

“I don’t feel like we’ve got a situation,” Boucher said. “We’ve got a goaltender that has taken us here. He’s played really well, and he’s getting prepared for [Monday]. We’ve got a goaltender that came in relief and he’s done really well. So every time we ask him to come in, he’s played well, and we’ve got a goaltender that has taken us here that knows how to win and knows how to bounce back. So I don’t feel there’s a situation there. Roloson is getting ready for [Monday].”

The puck drops at 8 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action from the Garden.