The Tampa Bay Lightning opened their NHL Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Bruins with a 5–2 win, surprising the Bruins with their intensity. It was Tampa Bay’s eighth playoff win in a row.
Tampa Bay Scored three goals in less than 90 seconds in the middle of the first period, which must have hurt the Bruins, already looking lethargic after their eight-day layoff since beating Philadelphia.
Tampa had a longer layoff—maybe the Bruins needed a few more days.
The first Lightning goal came on a failed clearing attempt in the Boston end. The puck bounced to Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman who fired a drive from the right point. Dominic Moore, standing in front of the net, tried to jam the rebound under Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas.
Boston’s Dennis Seidenberg, who had lost his stick, tried to kick the puck away from the net, but instead sent it right onto the stick of Sean Bergenheim, who fired it home.
Nineteen seconds later, Brett Clark swept down the right wing, around the bruins defense, and fired a backhand at an extreme angle, caroming the puck into the net off of Thomas.
A minute later, Bruins defenseman Tomas Kaberle, stickhandling behind the net to avoid Tampa Bay’s forechecker Ted Purcell, lost the handle, delivering the puck to Purcell inches from the net. Purcell tucked it past Thomas on his second try, giving Tampa Bay a three-goal lead.
Three minutes later, the Bruins’ 19-year-old Tyler Seguin showed his potential, beating Lightning defenseman Mike Lundin at the blue line, breaking in alone, and beating goalie Dwayne Rolonson to get Boston on the board.
No one scored in the second period, though Tampa Bay outshot Boston 13–8, and outplayed them in every respect.
The third period was worse for the Bruins; they played like weak swimmers in rough water, flailing frantically and ineffectually.
Tmapa Bay picked up another goal 13 minutes in on a long drive by Marc-Andre Bergeron, and then an empty-net goal with three minutes to go after Boston pulled Thomas for an extra attacker.
Boston did demonstrate that it could score given a six-on-five advantage, when with a minute to play, a Dan Boyle drive ricocheted off Marc-Andre Bergeron and slipped between Rolonson’s pads.
At that point no one cared, not even the Boston fans packing the TD arena. Boston had gotten beat, badly, on their home ice, setting a bad tone for the start of the series.
Of course, it was just one game. Boston will surely be playing better in the series’ second game, Tuesday evening. If Tampa Bay does as well, and Boston plays as it did against the Flyers this could be an entertaining series. Otherwise, it could just be short.
Tampa Bay Scored three goals in less than 90 seconds in the middle of the first period, which must have hurt the Bruins, already looking lethargic after their eight-day layoff since beating Philadelphia.
Tampa had a longer layoff—maybe the Bruins needed a few more days.
The first Lightning goal came on a failed clearing attempt in the Boston end. The puck bounced to Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman who fired a drive from the right point. Dominic Moore, standing in front of the net, tried to jam the rebound under Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas.
Boston’s Dennis Seidenberg, who had lost his stick, tried to kick the puck away from the net, but instead sent it right onto the stick of Sean Bergenheim, who fired it home.
Nineteen seconds later, Brett Clark swept down the right wing, around the bruins defense, and fired a backhand at an extreme angle, caroming the puck into the net off of Thomas.
A minute later, Bruins defenseman Tomas Kaberle, stickhandling behind the net to avoid Tampa Bay’s forechecker Ted Purcell, lost the handle, delivering the puck to Purcell inches from the net. Purcell tucked it past Thomas on his second try, giving Tampa Bay a three-goal lead.
Three minutes later, the Bruins’ 19-year-old Tyler Seguin showed his potential, beating Lightning defenseman Mike Lundin at the blue line, breaking in alone, and beating goalie Dwayne Rolonson to get Boston on the board.
No one scored in the second period, though Tampa Bay outshot Boston 13–8, and outplayed them in every respect.
The third period was worse for the Bruins; they played like weak swimmers in rough water, flailing frantically and ineffectually.
Tmapa Bay picked up another goal 13 minutes in on a long drive by Marc-Andre Bergeron, and then an empty-net goal with three minutes to go after Boston pulled Thomas for an extra attacker.
Boston did demonstrate that it could score given a six-on-five advantage, when with a minute to play, a Dan Boyle drive ricocheted off Marc-Andre Bergeron and slipped between Rolonson’s pads.
At that point no one cared, not even the Boston fans packing the TD arena. Boston had gotten beat, badly, on their home ice, setting a bad tone for the start of the series.
Of course, it was just one game. Boston will surely be playing better in the series’ second game, Tuesday evening. If Tampa Bay does as well, and Boston plays as it did against the Flyers this could be an entertaining series. Otherwise, it could just be short.
