The Bruins are now 1-2-0 on this road trip, with only a shootout victory in Florida salvaging the trip at all. They will close out the trip Thursday in New Jersey, where hopefully the return of Brad Marchand and Rich Peverley will help them get back on track before a huge showdown with the Rangers back in Boston on Saturday.
Third Period, 19:39, Lightning 5-3: The Lightning put this one away as Steven Stamkos scores into the empty net with Thomas pulled for the extra attacker.
Third Period, 15:14, Lightning 4-3: The Lightning grab their fourth lead of the night as Dominic Moore scores his second.
Steve Downie sent the pass over to Moore on the rush and Moore blasted it up high from the top left circle.
Third Period, 15:14, 3-3: The sides are back to 5 on 5 as the penalties expire and he enter the final five minutes of a tied game in Tampa.
Third Period, 13:14, 3-3: It will be 4 on 4 after matching penalties to two of the game’s top young stars. Steven Stamkos goes for tripping up Tyler Seguin, but Seguin goes as well for unsportsmanlike conduct for embellishing the penalty with a dive.
Third Period, 12:14, 3-3: The Bruins kill off the rest of that penalty and the sides are back to even strength.
Third Period, 10:53, 3-3: The Bruins tie it again, as this time Daniel Paille is not denied on a breakaway.
He scores shorthanded as he goes to the backhand and buries it top shelf.
Third Period, 10:14, Lightning 3-2: The Bruins continue to make things harder on themselves, as they now will have to kill off another penalty with Milan Lucic going to the box for interference.
Third Period, 10:00, Lightning 3-2: Paille with another bid, this time on a blast from the left circle, but Garon turns the shot aside to maintain the one-goal advantage for Tampa Bay.
Third Period, 6:30, Lightning 3-2: The Lightning goal has now been credited to Ryan Malone, who got a stick on the puck at the right post as Moore shoveled it to the net.
Third Period, 4:58, Lightning 3-2: The Lightning take their third lead of the night as Dominic Moore scores in front.
Moore banged home a shot from in close at the right post after the Bruins were unable to clear the puck out of their zone.
Third Period, 1:24, 2-2: The Bruins kill off the penalty, and Daniel Paille has a breakaway as it expired, but can’t put it home as Garon got a piece of the puck, then it hit the crossbar.
Third Period, 0:00, 2-2: The final frame is under way in Tampa, where the Bruins will need to kill off the remainder of this penalty, then try to break this tie to pull out a victory over the Lightning.
Second Intermission Notes: The second was a much better period for the Bruins in general and Nathan Horton in particular.
Horton answered Claude Julien’s challenge to improve his game with a strong showing in the middle frame. He scored both Bruins goals to put them in a 2-2 tie heading into the third. Horton has four shots, and has attempted eight, while no other Bruin has more than two shots on goal.
Both teams are 0 for 3 on the power play. For Boston, the power play is beginning to resemble last year’s playoff struggles, with the Bruins just 4 for 30 over the last 10 games. The Bruins outshot Tampa 11-10 in that period, though they still trail 21-17 overall. They also fared better on draws, but still are just 20-26 (43 percent) for the night.
The Bruins will have to kill off another penalty to start the third period after Dennis Seidenberg was called for holding in the final minute of the second.
End Second Period, 2-2: The second period comes to a close, but not before Tim Thomas makes a spectacular save, going post to post to rob Teddy Purcell on a one-timer from the left circle to keep it tied going into the third.
Second Period, 19:23, 2-2: The Bruins again take a penalty in the final minute of the period as Dennis Seidenberg is called for holding.
Second Period, 16:48, 2-2: The Bruins answer back as Nathan Horton scores his second of the night to tie it again.
David Krejci won the offensive-zone faceoff back to Andrew Ference at the left point. Ference’s shot was blocked in front, and Horton jumped on the loose puck and banged it home from the slot.
Second Period, 14:11, Lightning 2-1: The Lightning take advantage of more sloppy play in front with Tom Pyatt banging home a rebound.
Thomas made the initial save on Steve Downie, but was down and out when Pyatt pounced on the rebound to put Tampa back ahead. The Bruins had been playing better prior to that costly breakdown.
Second Period, 9:44, 1-1: The Lightning catch the Bruins with Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis breaking in on a 3 on 1 with Johnny Boychuk back. Thomas tumbles into the net, but somehow manages to keep the puck from joining him there.
Second Period, 9:05, 1-1: The Bruins again come up empty on the power play, which is again becoming a recurring theme for the Bruins.
Second Period, 7:05, 1-1: The Bruins now get another power-play chance as Vincent Lecavalier gets called for tripping up Milan Lucic behind the Tampa goal.
Second Period, 4:28, 1-1: The Bruins pull even off an impressive individual effort by Nathan Horton.
Horton intercepted a clearing attempt along the boards, cut to the front of the net and fired in a shot from the slot. that was saved, but Horton followed it up and scored on the second effort at the left post.
Second Period, 1:56, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins get the first bit of business done in the second by killing off the penalty as Thornton is released from the box and the sides are back at even strength.
Second Period, 0:00, Lightning 1-0: The middle frame is under way in Tampa, with the Bruins needing to open this period by killing off Shawn Thornton’s holding penalty.
First Intermission Notes: That wasn’t the first period the Bruins were looking for after escaping with a sloppy win in Florida on Monday.
The Bruins came out sluggish again, struggling to generate anything offensively and falling behind 1-0 early. Boston was outshot 11-6, outhit by an identical 11-6 and was just 9-18 on faceoffs (33 percent). Vincent Lecavalier had the only goal and nearly matched Boston’s shot total by himself with four in the period.
The Bruins had four of their six shots on the power play, and still came up empty on two changes with the man advantage. They will now have to open the second by killing 1:55 of a late Shawn Thornton holding penalty. That will be a huge kill for a PK playing without Brad Marchand and Rich Peverley as the Bruins look to get themselves back into this one mentally and physically.
End First Period, Lightning 1-0: The opening frame is in the books and it wasn’t a good one for the Bruins, who once again came out sluggish and sloppy and are fortunate to be down just a goal.
First Period, 19:55, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins pick up another penalty in the closing seconds as Shawn Thornton goes for holding. The bulk of this power play will carry over to the second period.
First Period, 16:24, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins are able to kill that penalty, though Lecavalier nearly scored his second of the night with a shot off the near post from the right side.
First Period, 14:24, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins will now be shorthanded for the first time in this one as Andrew Ference is sent to the box for interference. With their slow and sloppy start, the Bruins need to pull it together quickly and not let Tampa grab a two-goal lead here.
First Period, 11:52, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins again come up empty on the power play against a struggling Lightning penalty kill they should be able to exploit, but haven’t shown much of a threat to do that yet.
First Period, 9:52, Lightning 1-0: The Bruins get another power-play chance after a strong shift by Zach Hamill draws an elbowing call on Dominic Moore.
First Period, 7:11, Lightning 1-0: The Lightning strike first with Vincent Lecavalier scoring out of a scramble in front.
Matt Gilroy threw the puck into the mass of bodies in the slot from the right point and Lecavalier was able to pounce on it and flip in a backhander.
First Period, 6:20, 0-0: Thomas has been very busy early, as the Lightning are peppering him with shots. Best chance came after Joe Corvo lost control of the puck in the neutral zone, leading to a chance for Steve Downie that Thomas turned aside.
First Period, 3:58, 0-0: The Bruins can’t convert on that early power play despite some decent time spent in the Tampa zone.
First Period, 1:58, 0-0: After Bergeron coughs up the puck in front of the net that nearly leads to a Tampa goal, the Bruins get the first power-play chance of the night when Bruno Gervais is called for high-sticking Pouliot in the Tampa end.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: This one is under way in Tampa, where Bruins make their first return since last year’s conference final. Much has changed since then, with the Bruins one point out of the East lead and the Lightning dead last in the conference.
7:30 p.m.: After producing both goals in regulation and one in the shootout Monday, Patrice Bergeron gets the nod to start this one between Benoit Pouliot and Tyler Seguin, with Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on defense and Tim Thomas in goal.
The Lightning counter with Ryan Malone, Dominic Moore and Nate Thompson up front, Brett Clark and Matt Gilroy on the blue line and Mathieu Garon in net.
7:25 p.m.: No real suspense in the scratches, with Steven Kampfer remaining out as the only healthy scratch for the Bruins, along with Brad Marchand (suspension) and Rich Peverley (personal matter).
The Lightning have no healthy scratches. Dana Tyrell (lower body), JT Wyman (finger), Victor Hedman (concussion) and Marc-Andre Bergeron (back) remain out.
7 p.m.: No surprises in the warm-up in Tampa as Tim Thomas and Mathieu Garon lead the teams out onto the ice.
That will be the goaltending matchup as expected.
6:30 p.m.: The Bruins continue their southern swing with a stop in Tampa, where they will take on the struggling Lightning in about an hour.
Tim Thomas is expected to get the start in goal after Tuukka Rask played Monday in Florida, but no other lineup changes are anticipated.
The Bruins don’t have many options with Brad Marchand serving the final game of his suspension and Rich Peverley still away from the team attending to a personal matter. Claude Julien may continue to tweak his defensive pairings though, one of the few options available to him at the moment to try to snap the club out of its recent sloppy play.
8 a.m. ET: After beating Florida in a shootout on Monday, the Bruins will continue their road trip by moving across the Sunshine State to take on Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
A single goal separated these clubs in the Eastern Conference final last spring, with the Bruins advancing to the Cup Final only after an epic 1-0 Game 7 victory over the Lightning. But while the Bruins have remained among the elite teams in the league this season, Tampa Bay has faded quickly.
The Lightning are dead last in the league at 17-23-4 (38 points). They are 0-6-1 in January and have allowed an NHL-worst 156 goals (3.48 per game) while scoring just 121. Their minus-35 is the second worst differential in the league, their power play is 25th at 14.1 percent and their penalty kill is 26th at 78.9 percent.
Much of the problem stems from their goaltending. Playoff hero Dwayne Roloson is 6-10-2 and ranks 45th among 45 qualified leaders in both GAA (3.68) and save percentage (.880). Mathieu Garon hasn’t been much better, going 11-13-2 and ranking 38th in both GAA (3.03) and save percentage (.899).
Add in a string of injuries that includes defensemen Victor Hedman (concussion), Matthias Ohlund (surgery on both knees) and Marc-Andre Bergeron (upper body) and forwards Dana Tyrell (lower body), Adam Hall (forearm), Ryan Shannon (knee) and JT Wyman (upper body), and this might be the best possible team for the Bruins to face in the second half of a back-to-back set.
The Bruins won the first meeting this year 4-1 at the Garden back on Oct. 8, though two of those goals were scored by Rich Peverley and Brad Marchand had two assists. Peverley will miss this game for personal reasons, while Marchand will serve the final game of his five-game suspension. Tim Thomas did make 25 saves that night and will likely be in goal after Tuukka Rask got the call for Monday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Panthers.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action.
