The Bruins opened their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Lightning on a high note.
Boston took Game 1 of the best-of-seven set against its Atlantic Division rival Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Tampa Bay made things interesting in the third period after the B’s netted the first three goals of the contest, but the 2019-20 Presidents’ Trophy winners hung on for a 3-2 win.
Charlie Coyle opened the scoring late in the first period. Boston’s third-line center beautifully redirected a Brandon Carlo shot over the head of Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Bruins’ second goal came courtesy of David Pastrnak less than five minutes into the second frame. With Boston on the power play, David Krejci exhibited great patience with the puck before sending a cross-ice pass to Pastrnak, who rifled a one-timer from the point.
Boston arguably saved its best work for last when Brad Marchand lit the lamp just over one minute into the third period. The slick sequence saw Patrice Bergeron steal the puck from Tampa defenseman Ryan McDonagh and shuffle it to Pastrnak, who found an all-alone Marchand in front of the Bolts’ net.
The B’s will look to take a 2-0 series lead Tuesday night. Puck drop for Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. ET.
