Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 12, 2019
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees:
Francis Charron, Corey Syvret
Linesmen:
Kory Nagy, James Tobias
Attendance:
19092
By Field Level Media
Steven Stamkos scored twice, including one of Tampa Bay's two power-play goals, to propel the Lightning to a 3-2 win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
Brayden Point also netted a power-play goal, and Nikita Kucherov recorded two assists for the Lightning, who have won three of four.
They improved to 13-3-3 in games when scoring on the power play.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for his third straight win and beat the Bruins for the seventh straight time, including playoff starts.
Patrice Bergeron and Anders Bjork tallied for the Bruins, who lost their fifth straight (0-4-1).
Brad Marchand assisted on Bergeron's goal, giving him 30 helpers on the season in 33 games. He is the fastest Bruins player to 30 assists since Marc Savard in 2007-08.
Charlie McAvoy, John Moore and Zdeno Chara added assists, and goalie Tuukka Rask made 28 stops but lost his third straight (0-2-1).
The match was between the two top teams in the Eastern Conference last season -- with Tampa Bay claiming the Atlantic Division with an NHL-best 128 points and Boston earning 107 to secure to nab the runner-up spot.
On a line change in the first period, Bergeron took a breakout pass from McAvoy and fed a pass to Marchand, who raced around Vasilevskiy's goal and tried to slam in a wraparound.
The puck didn't go in, but Bergeron grabbed the loose puck in the low slot and popped in his 10th marker at 4:26.
In the second, Vasilevskiy made two big saves on David Pastrnak -- the NHL's leading goal scorer -- and another on a one-on-one chance by Jake DeBrusk, and Stamkos evened it 1-1 at after a sharp pass by Kucherov from the corner.
The Lightning captain found himself all alone in front of Rask at the inside of the left circle and whipped in his team-best 12th goal at 12:35.
During an early Lightning power play in the third, Rask made a dazzling save on Kucherov, but the Russian winger retrieved the puck and sent it out front to Point, who tallied his 11th goal at 4:07 for the home side's first lead.
Stamkos pushed the lead to 3-1 when he stole the puck in the offensive end and beat Rask at 15:13 shortly after the Lightning killed off a Boston man advantage.
Bjork scored his fifth at 16:45, but Tampa Bay killed off the final time with Rask on the bench for the extra attacker to get the win.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Boston |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
Patrice Bergeron 1 |
Points |
Steven Stamkos 2 |
|
Patrice Bergeron 1 |
Goals |
Steven Stamkos 2 |
|
Anders Bjork 1 |
Assists |
Nikita Kucherov 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Steven Stamkos 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Tuukka Rask .903 |
Save Percentage |
Andrei Vasilevskiy .931 |
|
Tuukka Rask 28 |
Saves |
Andrei Vasilevskiy 27 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Boston
|
29 |
2 |
0-2 |
1-3 |
13 |
34 |
| Tampa Bay
|
31 |
3 |
2-3 |
2-2 |
11 |
31 |
Upcoming Games
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Washington. The Lightning have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .667 after a loss.
-
Boston will play their next game on the road against Florida. The Bruins have a W/L % of .762 after a win and .333 after a loss.
For more information, contact us