The Bruins could not muster much of a sustained offensive attack and looked lethargic in their own end of the rink on Monday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning cruised to a 3-1 win at St. Pete Times Forum that was not as close as the score implies.
The Lightning got on the scoreboard first 3:26 into the second period. Randy Jones threw a wrist shot towards the goal from the left point with traffic in front of Tuukka Rask's cage. Dana Tyrell got a piece of the shot and deflected it past Rask for his second goal of the season.
The Lightning struck again just 1:49 after their first tally. The Lightning moved the puck well to open things up in the offensive zone. Steve Downie fed the puck from the right wing across to Martin St. Louis at the left circle. St. Louis centered the puck with a backhand that found it way to the stick of Steve Stamkos at the top of the crease. All Stamkos had to do was the nudge the puck over the goal line to notch his 20th goal of the season.
The Bolts increased their lead to 3-0 with 8:24 to play in the middle period. Dominic Moore's shot whistled wide left and caromed off the end boards to the left post. Teddy Purcell was driving to the net and picked up the rebound and deposited into the net. The goal was the 4th of the season for the former Maine Black Bear and Manchester Monarch.
The Bruins finally got on the board with 9:22 to play in the third period with a goal from Michael Ryder.Michael Ryder tipped in Blake Wheeler slap shot for his 6th goal of the year.
Notes:
- Zdeno Chara looked lost at times tonight. He finished with a -2 and gave the puck away 3 times. It was not a good night for the Chara-Ference pairing. Ference finished at -2 and was on the ice for all 3 Lightning goals.
- The Bruins were out-shot 36-27.
- On Tuesday, Marc Savard will undergo an extensive series of neuro-psych tests conducted by head injury expert Dr. Mike Collins at the University of Pittsburgh. If Savvy passes these tests, he will likely be cleared for full-contact practice.
- It was not a perfect game for Tuukka Rask, but he made some huge saves to keep the B's in this one. This easily could have been a blowout for the Lightning.
- Randy Jones (who probably ranks as Public Enemy #2 around Causeway St.) finished the night with a +3 rating.
- The first line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton registered just one shot on goal tonight. Krejci was the only first-liner to have a shot reach Mike Smith.
- The Bruins gave up 20 shots in the second period that saw the Lightning score 3 goals. The Lightning carried the play for most of the first and the Bruins showed some life late in the third. In other words, to sum up tonight's game: it was a turd sandwich on stale bread.
- There is not much more to say about this one.
- The Bruins will be in Sunrise, FL on Wednesday to take on the Florida Panthers.
- For more on tonight's game from a happier bunch of bloggers, check out Raw Charge.