Game 5 a perfect summary of how the Lightning beat Boston

Often, the difference between a good team and a great team in just about any sport is that a great team can play at the highest possible level even when circumstances dictate that they can’t play in their preferred style. By that metric, the Tampa Bay Lightning were a great team against the Boston Bruins. Tampa Bay was forced to play a style other than their own, and not only did they defeat the Bruins in doing so, they did so emphatically.

Sunday afternoon’s 3-1 victory in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal sent the Lightning to the next round on a high note. Sunday’s game also proved to be a demonstration of everything the Lightning did to defeat the Boston Bruins.

As it turns out, the Lightning wanted the Bruins. “Boston set the bar for us. We played them three times late in the year. The first two times we played them, they literally manhandled us. … It was men amongst boys, and we knew if we were going to go anywhere when we made the playoffs, that we had to be as good as Boston.” Jon Cooper’s comments echoed sentiments heard before the series started, that it seemed like Boston had the Lightning’s number and they would need to find a new geat to get past the Bruins.

The Lightning found that gear by playing the Bruins’ game, and beating them at it. Tampa Bay finished the regular season at the bottom of the league in hits. They weren’t a physical team and had problems beating teams that could push them around, such as the Bruins. Against Boston, they were aggressively physical in their play without being pushed over the edge into a team taking too many penalties. What is typically a quick strike offense took time to set up in the offensive zone and cycle the puck, keeping the goalie moving while keeping the puck away from a team that has plenty of offensive firepower of its own.

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While the Lightning did control the puck and the pace of the play for the first period, the Bruins were able to get what they wanted out of the game early on. They were able to draw the Lightning into penalties, and did so three times in the first. With the Bruins being lethal on the man advantage, it was only a matter of time before they scored. It was David Krejci who got that goal, putting the Bruins up 1-0 in the first.

In the second period, the Lightning’s frustration receded and they were allowed to play their game again. The game remained chippy, but the increasingly bigger hits were clean, especially on the Lightning’s end. With the Bolts able to stay out of the penalty box, they had chances to set up on offense and play the kind of five-on-five hockey they have played all series. Brayden Point tied the score after collecting a free puck in front of Tuukka Rask and beating the Bruins’ netminder with a backhand shot. From there, Tampa Bay was able to take over the pace of the game.

Tampa Bay took the lead on a power play goal from J.T. Miller, set up by excellent passing between Miller and Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov eventually sprung Miller to Rask’s left, and Miller got his shot into the net for the lead.

All this left the Lightning with a straightforward task that is anything but simple: Hold a one goal lead and eliminate a hockey team in a playoff format. Eliminating a hockey team is one of the most difficult tasks in sports.

Sure enough, the Bruins were not ready to let their season end without a fight. Boston had their share of looks on net and scoring opportunities, but Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall in net for the Lightning. In the third, with the score still 2-1, a Brad Marchand pass found Patrice Bergeron in front of the net for a prime scoring opportunity. Vasilevskiy ranged from post to post and stopped the shot, sending the Amalie Arena crowd into a frenzy.

Anton Stralman sealed the victory with an empty net goal from deep in the Lightning’s own defensive zone. It might have been a 190 foot shot on net. That took the score to 3-1 with 1:29 remaining in the game, good enough to have finished the Boston Bruins.

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What stood out in the game, and throughout the series, was the Brayden Point line. Point, Ondrej Palat, and Tyler Johnson were Tampa Bay’s most effective trio throughout the five games. Boston had no real answer for it, despite that line being matched up with the Bruins’ fearsome top line of Marchand, Bergeron, and David Pastrnak. Their speed was too much for Boston, and the line played an aggressive five games that the Bruins were just not prepared for.

Another major takeaway was that preparedness. The Lightning seemed to anticipate everything that Boston was going to throw at them in this series, utilizing a strategy that emphasized Tampa Bay’s advantages in depth. At times it appeared as though the Bruins were content to dare players like Point to beat them, focusing instead on keeping tabs on Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov.

That top line showed their muscle again in game 5, a factor which really finished the series off over the past two games. This time it was Miller with the goal off the assist from Kucherov. The Lightning’s top trio was able to break down the Bruins’ defenses over the series, fighting through what looked like swarms of bees at times to find space over the weekend and get themselves on the score sheet.

Critically, the Lightning never gave into the Bruins’ ability to pester a hockey team into a series of penalties. Even in losing the series four games to one, Boston showed how strong their special teams were with a dominant power play attack. Few teams in hockey are as good at drawing calls, and the Lightning did a good job at not putting the Bruins in a position to get those power plays. Most notably, despite all the talk about Brad Marchand and his tongue, the Lightning never let Marchand get to them the way he can get to even some of the best teams.

Defensively, Tampa Bay did all they could to contain that top Boston line. The group was still potent, as the game one blowout will attest, but they found themselves with fewer opportinities to impact a game every time. This put an emphasis on the Bruins’ supporting cast, which is still largely young and gaining valuable experience as time goes on. Think of Boston as one developmental step behind the Lightning, who also have a lot of young players but a surprising amount of playoff experience.

Ryan Callahan did a number of things this series that do not show up statistically, but helped win the series. The right wing was a true two-way forward, seemingly everywhere on the ice during his shifts throughout the five games. There’s a reason he was at the center of the series’ most bizarre and inexplicable moment. Ryan Callahan was under Boston’s skin.

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The loss sends Boston into an offseason where they can concentrate on the team’s bright future. Few were expecting the Bruins to be this dangerous in 2017-18, and no team will complain about being a year or two ahead of schedule. The to-do list will be somewhat light, as for the most part they simply need their young supporting cast to develop.

Credit is due to Tuukka Rask for keeping the series as close as it was. Rask had moments in just about every game this series where even the best teams would be frustrated. With all due respect to Taylor Hall, David Pastrnak has been the scariest Lightning opponent this postseason so far. Ryan Donato joins the exclusive club of players who have gone straight from college hockey to the NHL Playoffs.

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From here the Bruins will await the winner of the Pittsburgh-Washington series, which continues Monday night with the Capitals up 3-2 in games. Should Pittsburgh win, Tampa Bay will once again be in the familiar position of waiting to find out who their next opponent will be. Already, they’re learning lessons from their sole loss in the conference semifinals. Steven Stamkos suggested after the game that they’ll be on edge to avoid rust.

“I think, to be honest, we had that long layover and for whatever reason we just came out a little flat.”

Great teams learn, prepare, and move on.