Disruptive play by the Bruins proved to be too much for the Bolts to handle in their third straight loss led by David Pastrnak’s hat trick. Penalty kill was a bright spot but was not enough to contain the Bruins offense. Brandon Hagel managed to score his first as a Bolt, but the woes continued as the Lightning still try to find a way back in the win column.
Early penalties
To start off, the Lightning penalty kill was tested early. Erik Cernak received a double minor for Hi-sticking giving the Bruins a quick chance to open up the scoring. Fortunately, Tampa’s penalty kill kept the Bruins off the score sheet and soon after received a power play. Craig Smith went to the box for Hi-sticking, but the Bruins were able to kill off the penalty. Soon after, Boston had a solid odd-man rush opportunity that Andrei Vasilevskiy saved to keep the game scoreless. Bolts continued to have possession issues thanks to the disruptive play of the Bruins.
Quiet offense
Boston kept Tampa out of the offensive zone for the majority of the period yet could not generate many scoring chances of their own. Once again, Cernak was called for a penalty this time for interference, but the Lightning were able to kill it off yet again. Neither offense was able to generate chances for the remainder of the period but all would change in the second.
Hagel scores his first as a Bolt
Boston continued with the disruptive playing that ended up haunting the Lightning for the rest of the game. Momentum stayed in favor of the Bruins after Mikhail Sergachev was called for Hi-sticking. At this point it was the third penalty called on the Lightning and this same penalty opened up the scoring. Despite being on the penalty kill Tampa found a way to score a short-handed goal. Brandon Hagel fired the feed from Ondrej Palat past Jeremy Swayman to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. It was a much needed goal after Boston dominating for the entire game. What should have been a momentum swing for the Lightning turned into a perfect answer back by the Bruins.
We've got a
(•_•)
<) )╯SHORT
/(•_•)
( (> HANDED
/(•_•)
<) )> BAGEL
/ pic.twitter.com/oBjxCl7WL1— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 25, 2022
Bruins regain momentum
Erik Haula dished the puck perfectly to Pastrnak to tie the game at 1. Bruins continued to generate chances, but thankfully for the Lightning were saved by a whiffed open-net chance and a puck that went off the iron. Late in the period Nick Paul and Brandon Carlo were called for rouging and the period seemed to end with 4-on-4 play. However, Pastrnak was called for tripping giving Tampa a late power play that carried over into the third period.
Re-taking the lead only to lose it again
The leftover power play time did not last long as Nikita Kucherov was called for slashing. Penalty kill remained perfect and it stayed that way for the rest of the game for both teams. Minutes later Tampa regained the lead. Swayman could not control the puck and that allowed Steven Stamkos to cash in giving the Bolts the 2-1 lead. For once the game was in favor of Tampa and it would remain that way for a few minutes. Boston again found a way to tie the game with another goal from Pastrnak. From a very small opening Pastrnak was able to slip the puck past Vasy to even the score 2-2.
Hat trick and disruptive play continues
Bruins kept the pressure on the Lightning for most of the period in hopes of breaking through and finding the go-ahead goal. Lightning continued to have trouble getting the puck out of their zone and Boston took advantage of the miscues by the Bolts. With a little over four minutes to go Pasternak gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead and earned himself a hat trick in the process. Finally, the Lightning were unable to find a late equalizer as the disruptive play of the Bruins earned them the 3-2 victory at home.
Three stars of the night
1st Star: David Pastrnak – 3 goals for the hat trick
2nd Star: Erik Haula – 3 assists
3rd Star: Hampus Lindholm – 1 assist and 4 hits
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