Bruins come up just short in road loss to Lightning
Just 24 hours after a thrilling comeback against the Panthers, the Boston Bruins didn’t have another one in them, as they came up short in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night at Amalie Arena.
Tampa Bay got on the board first after some tight passing through the neutral zone led to a nifty saucer pass from Nick Paul to Mitchell Chaffee, who then finished nicely at the net to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. But the Bruins answered with just 2:49 left in the first period, sparked by a tenacious forecheck from David Pastrnak.
Danton Heinen slipped through Tampa coverage to get to the slot, then Pavel Zacha fed him in front for the goal and a 1-1 tie. The goal was Heinen’s 15th, the third-highest single-season total of his career.
15th of the year for 4️⃣3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/XBmfBGmrmR
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 28, 2024
The Lightning went back on top during the second period, as Brayden Point was too quick for everyone wearing a spoked ‘B’, beating goaltender Linus Ullmark with a wraparound to make it 2-1 Tampa Bay. The Bruins grabbed a golden opportunity to tie it back up on a power play less than a minute later, but came up empty and could only muster one shot on goal.
About midway through the third period, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos thought he had given the Lighting a 3-1 lead with a blast of a bouncing puck through Ullmark. But the Bruins successfully challenged offside to take the goal off the board, keeping it a 2-1 contest.
The B’s were unable to turn that into any further momentum, as the final goal in the game was an empty-netter by Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov.
Up Next: The Bruins head to D.C. next, where they’ll take on the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Puck drop expected at 7 p.m. ET.
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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt’s content.
3 Stars: Bruins struggle to find legs in loss to Bolts
Third Star: Linus Ullmark
Mar 27, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) makes a save against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period at Amalie Arena. (Kim Klement Neitzel/USA TODAY Sports)
On a night where the Bruins didn’t have much in the tank at the offensive end of the rink, the Bruins were forced to lean on netminder Linus Ullmark, and the 6-foot-5 Ullmark certainly did his part.
While Ullmark got caught too tight on his left post on the Bolts’ second-period marker, Ullmark repeatedly made the saves he needed to make to keep the Bruins within striking distance in this game. This was especially noticeable as the Bruins found themselves almost doubled up in shots in goal late in the second period and early in the third period, and Ullmark kicked off his third-period performance with a pair of big-time stops from in tight.
Ullmark finished the night with 27 saves on 29 shots faced, and was credited with eight saves on 10 high-danger shots faced. It’s still a loss at the end of the day, sure, but it’s a whole lot better than Ullmark’s last outing, which featured two ‘low-danger goals’ allowed in what was an ugly third-period showing against Philadelphia.
(Ullmark still has to be the proverbial leader in the clubhouse for the net in Game 1, I’d say.)
Second Star: Brayden Point
Mar 27, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) is congratulated after he scored as goal against the Boston Bruins during the second period at Amalie Arena. (Kim Klement Neitzel/USA TODAY Sports)
The Lightning were all over the Bruins in the second period, and during their best rush of the middle frame, it was Brayden Point who was all around Ullmark’s net and ultimately on the board with the period’s lone tally.
Brayden Point scores on the wraparound! 🔄 pic.twitter.com/nHmzdFPscB
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 28, 2024The 5-foot-11 Point also captured wins in three of his six faceoffs against the Bruins’ Pavel Zacha in this win. Splitting the results at the dot may be the very definition of ‘average’, but it’s worth noting given the way that Zacha dominated both Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart at the dot the night prior.
Point torching the B’s is nothin’ new, we all know. Already with a two-goal performance against the B’s to his name, Point’s goal on Wednesday night pushed him up to seven goals and 13 points in his last 15 games against Boston.
First Star: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Mar 27, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) watches Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) during the second period at Amalie Arena. (Kim Klement Neitzel/USA TODAY Sports)
This game was more about the way that the Lightning defense locked things down against the Bruins and beat them into submission over the final 40 minutes than anything Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy did, I’ll admit. But credit to Vasilevskiy in the sense that he refused to give the Bruins any cheapies in this one.
When Danton Heinen put the Bruins on the board late in the first period of play, Vasilevskiy responded by denying the Bruins on the final 15 shots they landed on goal by the night’s end, and finished the win with a 23-of-24 line in goal.
