Tampa Bay’s physical intensity set the tone

With Tuukka Rask pulled late in a game where the Tampa Bay Lightning led the Boston Bruins 3-2 in the final minute, Brayden Point found the puck on his stick with a clear lane. He sent it in, getting the net from far away to put the game away.

Nobody would have been a more appropriate game-finisher than Point. He contributed more than three assists and the empty netter. He created each of the four Lightning goals with clever play and pinpoint passing in Tampa Bay’s 4-2 victory on Monday night. Thanks to three assists and a goal from Point, the Lightning have evened their series with Boston.

It was an aggressive game by the Lightning, who responded to coach Jon Cooper’s call for more intensity by bringing the physical game to the Bruins. Tampa Bay had a decisive edge in hits, sending people in white shirts to the ice while earning the delight of the Amalie Arena crowd. On the official score, Tampa Bay racked up 42 hits on the Boston Bruins, who responded with 24 of their own in a game that was at times especially violent.

Point’s Big Night

After game 1 on Satuday night, when the Bruins’ top line of Patrice Bergeron flanked by David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand dominated the proceedings with Point’s line on the other side, questions were raised about whether it might be better to match top lines between the two teams, or otherwise switch things up. Point, after all, was -5 for the game.

Jon Cooper was resistent to change on Saturday as he was asked in his press conference about how badly the Bruins had won the game. As it turns out, he never seriously considered changing the Lightning’s strategy. When asked on Monday night about it, he said “Zero. I honestly didn’t. I’ve been asked that question quite a bit in the last three days.”

Point rewarded Cooper’s patience with some masterful passing on Monday night to even the series. Throughout the night, it was Point who was making plays, creating, facilitating, and eventually putting home the empty-net goal to seal the game.

The Point line was excellent on both ends. In addition to leading the charge for the Lightning, they were tough on the mighty top Bruins line, especially standout David Pasternak. The right wing was only able to take one shot all night.

The three up front for the Bruins did manage to pick up assists on Boston’s two goals, but they were much less dominant than the group that controlled the action on Saturday afternoon. Point and his linemates were challenged in public by their coach to step up the intensity, and they did just that.

Close Call Late

Despite Tampa Bay having controlled the action for the entire game, a soft third period goal brought the Bruins back to within one. Once they got that Torey Krug goal, the Bruins started to really press. At times in the closing minutes, the game seemed destined for overtime and all the stress that would come with it. The Lightning were on their heels, playing defensively and struggling to keep up until Point sent home his game-sealing goal.

One thing about sports: There is really no such thing as “almost winning.” Sure, in cases of extreme underdogs, simply being in a close game is a sort of accomplishment, but in this case it’s unlikely that the close nature of the game will have any added impact on the series.

The Bruins were especially sharp in the last eight minutes of the first period, starting with a 5-on-3 power play where they didn’t score but managed their first goal shortly thereafter. To that point, Boston had been dominated, and they regained some control in a hurry at the end of the first. Besides that and the last five minutes of the game, though, the proceedings were all Lightning no matter how close the score. Boston only managed 20 shots on the entire night. Even the most potent scorers will struggle when they have so few chances.

Bruins’ Defensive Strategy Becomes Clear

On the other end, after two games, it is now obvious where the Boston Bruins intended to strike on defense to make life tougher on the Lightning. Boston is focused mightily on stopping the top line of J.T. Miller, Steven Stamkos, and Nikita Kucherov. In the two games at Amalie Arena, the prolific top Lightning line was held very much in check by the Bruins, forcing Tampa Bay to win with their other lines.

Frustration began to set in for the top line on Monday night. After Kucherov touched the puck, he was often swarmed by Bruins. It isn’t that Kucherov and Stamkos have been particularly bad in the series so much as they’ve been played so tight that they’ve hardly had chances to change a game. Late in the second period, with Bruins all over him in the offensive zone, Kucherov turned the puck over and slammed his stick down. He and Stamkos combined for three shots on Monday night in all, going large parts of the game without much impact.

This is worth watching as the series goes on. Keeping Stamkos and Kucherov off the score sheet is a gargantuan task, and as the two adjust the Bruins are going to have to figure out how to stop those adjustments. This is no different from the Lightning’s need to keep Pastrnak at bay.

A Referee’s Impact

The Striped Ones were in the spotlight again Monday night after an assortment of questionable calls and non-calls. It appears that blatant slashes on both ends were not called, the kind of action that leads to a chippy game turning much worse. Matching minors were handed out during the game, perhaps the most unsatisfying call in hockey.

Most notably, it seemed as though a double minor to Pasternak in the third period for hitting Victor Hedman with a high stick might not have been the ideal call. While Pasternak’s stick drove much of the action, Hedman’s stick was the one that made contact with his face, for which Pasternak was sent to the box for four minutes. Boston did manage to kill the penalty—in fact, they did so with little trouble—but they lost four precious minutes in what became a frantic comeback effort.

It’s hard to see the refs being responsible for the outcome of this game, The calls were questionable, and while they went against both sides there were more in the Lightning’s favor than against them. However, with offsetting minors and issues on both sides, as well as the fact that Tampa Bay failed to score on the questionable double-minor, it would be quite a stretch to list the referees as the reason the Lightning were victorious.

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The series now shifts to Boston, with the Lightning needing at least a split on the road to reclaim home ice advantage in the series.

One thing to watch in games 3 and 4 is what happens when the puck hits the boards behind each net. Something about the TD Garden leads to a lot of bouncing pucks finding their way back in front of net. Both teams involved are known to just dump the puck in sometimes, and those dump-ins can turn into accidental assists in a hurry.

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Tim Williams joined the Erik Kuselias Show via phone on Tuesday morning to give his thoughts on the first two games.