Tampa Bay 5, Boston 3
When: 5:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 22, 2015
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees:
Justin St. Pierre, Dan O'Halloran
Linesmen:
David Brisebois, Andy McElman
Attendance:
19204
By SportsDirect Inc.
Lightning 5, Bruins 3: J.T. Brown and defenseman Anton Stralman scored 15 seconds apart midway into the first period as host Tampa Bay snapped its 10-game skid versus Boston.
Rookie Vladislav Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat and Brown each collected a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who have won three in a row and moved within two points of first-place Montreal in the Atlantic Division. Jason Garrison scored his first goal in 40 games, fellow blue-liner Matt Carle notched two assists and Ben Bishop made 25 saves as Tampa Bay defeated the Bruins for the first time since posting a 6-1 rout on March 13, 2012.
Patrice Bergeron scored in his second straight contest while captain Zdeno Chara and Daniel Paille also tallied for the Bruins, who have dropped five in a row (0-3-2) and remained one point ahead of idle Ottawa in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Tuukka Rask yielded four goals on 12 shots before being relieved midway into the second period by Niklas Svedberg, who finished with six saves.
The Lightning were ignited by seeing captain Steven Stamkos challenge Brad Marchand to a fight midway through the first period and erupted for two quick goals to seize a 3-1 lead. Brown split Boston defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Chara before beating Rask at 10:47 for his first goal in 16 games, and Stralman's one-timer from the point got past the screened netminder shortly thereafter.
Garrison's blast from the point sailed past the glove of Rask at 7:54 of the middle session, sending the reigning Vezina Trophy winner to the showers. Chara scored on the power play midway into the third to trim the Bruins' deficit to 4-2, but Palat converted from the slot during a man advantage 3 1/2 minutes later to essentially seal the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bruins got out of the blocks in a hurry as Marchand skated out from behind the net and set up Bergeron for a one-timer from the slot 33 seconds into the contest to open the scoring. ... Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman recorded a team-high five blocked shots. ... Boston recalled Zach Trotman from Providence of the American Hockey League and inserted him into the lineup in place of fellow D Dougie Hamilton, who sat out with an undisclosed injury.
Top Game Performances
| Boston |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
Patrice Bergeron 1 |
Points |
J.T. Brown 2 |
|
Patrice Bergeron 1 |
Goals |
J.T. Brown 1 |
|
Gregory Campbell 1 |
Assists |
Matt Carle 2 |
|
Zdeno Chara 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Ondrej Palat 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Niklas Svedberg .857 |
Save Percentage |
Ben Bishop .893 |
|
Tuukka Rask 8 |
Saves |
Ben Bishop 25 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Boston
|
28 |
3 |
1-2 |
0-1 |
9 |
26 |
| Tampa Bay
|
19 |
5 |
1-1 |
1-2 |
11 |
25 |
Upcoming Games
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Florida. The Lightning have a W/L % of .556 after a win and .714 after a loss.
-
Boston will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Bruins have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .486 after a loss.
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