Wednesday night in Tampa Bay always had the makings of a potential letdown for the Bruins.
That was before Boston’s gutsy, emotionally-charged victory over the Panthers on Tuesday night, but also especially after that victory. While hopping from Sunrise to Tampa isn’t exactly like switching timezones or anything more than a quick flight, the emotional hangover of a ‘winner takes first place’ game was to be expected. And it didn’t help that the Lightning were returning to their home ice after five games away from Amalie Arena, and with a seven-game point streak (6-0-1) to their name.
And though the Bruins ultimately hung with the Lightning to a 1-1 draw through 20 minutes of action, it was clear that the Black and Gold’s legs got heavier, and that the team was unable to muster what they needed to lift themselves above the Lightning in what finished as a 3-1 loss to their Atlantic Division rival.
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.
