The Bruins dropped a chance to sweep their mini Florida series with a very frustrating loss to Tampa Bay 2-1.  The first period was a solid one for both teams, with the only strike of the first going to Tampa.  Off of a funny bounce on a dump in by Kurtis Foster that Tim Thomas couldn't handle, the much maligned Vinny Lecavalier dished what is most likely the easiest goal Alex Tanguay has ever scored for the 1-0 Bolts lead.  During the 1st period the Bergeron line looked good, especially Dan Paille (who has proved to be quite a find by the Bruins). 

     The 2nd period didn't go quite as well for the Bruins.  The Lightning really dominated the play, out shooting the Bruins 23-7 in the period.  If not for the play of Tim Thomas this game could've gotten out of hand very early.  Martin St.Lous would add to the Tampa lead on the power play on a puck that trickled through the pads of Thomas to make it 2-0.  This was by far the worst period the Bruins have played in quite a while.

     The 3rd period was a better period for the Bruins.  Marco Sturm was able to cash in again for the Bruins lone goal of the night when he rang a slap shot of the post and in.  It is great to see Sturm starting to get on a roll here.  The Bruins had 2 good chance to tie the game late in the 3rd when Marco Sturm hit the post again, and then with a late power play.  However the Bruins were unable to capatalize and as a result fell 2-1.

Game Notes:

- Thomas played well enough to steal this one for the Bruins, unfortunately they couldnt pull a comeback out for him.

- In the 2nd period Mark Recchi was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, for a guy like Recchi to get called for something like that must have really taken something.  Would love to know what happened here for that to get called.

- Dan Paille was shaken up a bit off an apparent slash, the last thing this team needs is yet another injury.

- As I said earlier, Marco Sturm appears to be getting on one of his hot streaks, tonight was his 3rd goal in 4 games.