Bruins vs. Lightning 4/6/19 RECAP: Bruins go up early, spend rest of the game blowing said lead to lose 6-3

Period 1:

This game started pretty good, with plenty of hustle from the B’s as they took on a similarly “Resting everyone halfway important” Lightning squad, trading chances back and forth until late in the period when David Krejci and Charlie McAvoy combined to get a good shot past Pasquale, and put the Bruins up 1-0!

The shot looked like McAvoy, but upon further inspection they did indeed give the goal to Krejci, who got his stick on it. Still, great start.

And just before the period ended, Danton Heinen put up an absolutely wicked shot from out of nowhere to double that lead to 2-0!

Where the hell was that all year? Nice of it to show up now before the playoffs start so he can use it more regularly, maybe?

And with that, the period ended, with our hopes high, and our spirits lifted...

Period 2, where the game went sideways:

...only to come crashing down to earth as the Lightning got three unanswered goals in one period.

The first came from Eric Cernak, who took a bullet of a shot that Rask probably couldn’t see to get the Lightning on the board, 2-1

Yeesh. Frederic unintentionally screening there.

The second would be a shorthanded goal as the Bruins mishandle the puck over and over and finally Steven Stamkos gets a break and then does Steven Stamkos things. 2-2.

The final was Anthony Cirelli taking advantage of Danton Heinen tipping the puck for him and got the Lightning on top 3-2.

Just...of course it would.

And with that, the period ended, with maybe some hope they’d come back and win it, right?

Period 3:

Nikita Kucherov scores 34 seconds into the period by squeezing through Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy. 4-2 Lightning.

Thankfully, Matt Grzelcyk would get on the scoreboard to bring the B’s back within one!

Excellent stuff, and finally the Bruins had an opportun-

5-3. Just...urgh.

The B’s would pull their goalie late, and with how badly this was going, the end result should not shock you as Tampa got their easy empty-netter.

Game Notes:

• Rask had a...not great day. One part the lightning attacking his weaknesses, one part bad luck, one part “C’mon man you needed to make the save on goal 5!”. Hopefully he got that all out of his system before they play Tronna.
• But that brings us to a far more obnoxious part of the game: It really shouldn’t have been this bad. The Bruins absolutely showed they could hang with the Lightning...but only for 20 minutes or so. Bad miscues in the offensive zone (Especially in the 2nd period), half-hearted efforts against Nikita freaking Kucherov early on in the 3rd, and consistently trying to make an otherwise decent shot into a pass when down. The B’s beat themselves about as much as the Lightning beat them today.
• Well, regardless, the regular season is over and done with. Toronto is the problem ahead for right now, so let’s look ahead to the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs!