Editor’s note: Starting Tuesday, March 24, NESN will re-air memorable games from the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup run. Up next is Game 2 of the 2011 Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. See the full schedule by clicking here.
Tyler Seguin hardly was an unknown player entering the 2011 postseason.
But if there ever was a hockey fan who didn’t know him by then, they sure did afterward thanks to that Eastern Conference final.
After making his playoff debut in Game 1 of the Bruins’ series with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a 5-2 loss for Boston, Seguin really came alive in Game 2. The youngster had a memorable performance, as the B’s earned a 6-5 win to level the series.
Here are four things you might have forgotten about Game 2, which viewers can watch at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday night on NESN.
1. It was the Tyler Seguin game
Seguin had been benched for the first 11 games of the postseason, but he delivered a nice debut in Game 1, posting a goal and assist.
However, he doubled his output in both regards in Game 2, really grabbing the NHL by storm in the process. He had a pair of goals and as many assists in the victory, which drew understandable praise from his teammates after the game.
“He was really the reason we won,” Brad Marchand, a fellow rookie at the time, said, via The AP.
“When (Seguin) is skating and holding onto the puck and making plays, that’s when he’s at his best,” noted Michael Ryder.
2. Boston’s victory snapped a lengthy Tampa winning streak
The Bruins had run into an absolute buzzsaw in the Bolts when the series began.
With a victory in Game 1, Tampa had won eight consecutive games, led mostly by top class goaltending from 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson, who was playing in his penultimate season.
But Boston’s Game 2 triumph, obviously, brought that run to a halt for the Lightning.
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3. A special guest was in attendance
This actually was the first appearance of a few for New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who became something of a mainstay at TD Garden during the Bruins-Lightning series.
Belichick was shown on the jumbotron during the game, along with his longtime girlfriend Linda Holliday, and they unsurprisingly were met with a big ovation.
4. Five of the B’s six goals came in the same period
The Bruins were down 2-1 entering the second period, but that’s when they responded with an onslaught of goals, five to be exact, and ultimately finished the period up 6-3.
Seguin scored both his goals in the second, while Ryder had a pair as well. David Krejci was responsible for Boston’s other goal in the middle frame.
The Lightning would end up scoring two goals in the third period, but it wasn’t quite enough.
