2020 NHL Stanley Cup Series Review: (2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (4) Boston Bruins

It was a battle of Eastern Conference favorites , as the Tampa Bay Lighting and Boston Bruins meet for the third time (each team had won a series against the other). The rubber match was mostly competitive, but not overtly long, as Tampa Bay only needed five games to eliminate Boston and move on to the Conference Finals.

Games

 

Boston Bruins - 3

Tampa Bay Lightning - 2

While the Bruins lead in the the shot counter in the first - which included a few good chances - it wasn't until late in the period when one of those would find the back of the net. A point shot by Brandon Carlo looked to be going wide of the net, but Charlie Coyle got his stick in the way enough to redirect it past Andrei Vasilevskiy. An early powerplay in the second helped Boston extend their lead. David Krejci's cross-ice pass found fellow Czech David Pastrnak, whose one-timer wasted no time in getting into the net. Tampa Bay picked up it's play, as they fought to get on the scoreboard. It looked like they may have had one halfway through the period thanks to Alex Killorn, but the play was called off as Tyler Johnson had knocked the puck down with a high stick, with none of the Bruins touching the puck before Killorn did. Brad Marchand added to Boston's lead early in the third, finishing off a pass from Pastrnak to make it 3-0. Tampa Bay finally broke through midway through the third. Victor Hedman finally got the Lightning on the board, as his shot found it's way through a couple defenders and past Halak. Late in the third Hedman would strike again, as yet again the Lightning defenseman's shot found it's way through a crowd of players (once again hitting Charlie McAvoy) and into the back of the net. That was all Tampa could get for offense though, as Boston held on for the 3-2 win.

Boston Bruins - 3

Tampa Bay Lightning - 4 (OT)

Boston got things going early, thanks to the broken stick of Zach Bogosian. An attempted shot by the Lightning defenseman resulted in his stick snapping, and soon after, Nick Ritchie and Anders Bjork were off on a 2-on-1. Bjork's one-timer missed the net, but Ritchie managed to recover the puck and jam it home under Vasilevskiy's pad. Tampa Bay looked to have tie it up moments later, as Braydon Coburn's point shot was tipped by Barclay Goodrow, bounced off Halak's mask, and into the net. The play was challenged by Boston though for being offside. Replay showed Brayden Point not clearing the zone before Ondrej Palat entered, resulting in the play being offside, and the goal being nullified. Midway through the period, Tampa Bay would get their tying goal, and did it in style. Bogosian danced aournd two Boston defenders and dished it to a streak Blake Coleman, whose dive for the puck result in his stick redirecting it past Halak. It took a while, but Boston managed to regain the lead in the latter-half of the second. A powerplay opportunity saw Pastrnak's pass get deflected by the skates of Marchand into the Tampa Bay net. It took less than a minute for the Lightning to tie ti back up, as Nikita Kucherov tipped a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk past Halak. Tampa Bay would get thier first lead of the series midway through the third, as Coleman was sprung on a breakaway and beat Halak five-hole. While Coleman was leading the way for Tampa Bay, Marchand would do just that for Boston.  The Bruins forward added his second of the game late in the third period, as he helped sustain pressure in the Lighting zone and finished off a tic-tac-toe play. That was it for regulation scoring, as the game needed to be solved in overtime. It would be a short extra period, lasting all of 4:40. Palat pounced on a loose puck and put it past a sliding Halak. The win tied the series at a game a piece.

Tampa Bay Lightning - 7

Boston Bruins - 1

For the first time in the series, it was Tampa Bay who opened the scoring. Having set up on the powerplay, Palat's one-timer went off the stick of Zdeno Chara and into the Boston net. 15 seconds later, Yanne Gourde would cut across the slot and put the puck over a sliding Halak. The Bruins had a gripe against this goal, as a linesman inadvertently set a pick on McAvoy, who was defending Gourde on the play. Tampa Bay extended their lead early in the second. Another powerplay opportunity saw Sergachev blast one from inside the blue line past Halak. Soon after, it was Boston's turn on the powerplay. Marchand used the man advantaged to extend his goalscoring streak, as he scored in the exact same manor as his powerplay goal in Game 2 (this time Torey Krug was the passer). The powerplay kept being advantageous for both teams. About four minutes later, it was Alex Killorn's turn to score on the man advantage. Halak didn't last much longer after that goal, as Dan Vladar came in to make his NHL debut. Despite the lead, Tampa Bay kept their foot on the gas pedal. Later in the period, Point scored on a breakaway, deking out the Bruins rookie goaltender before sliding it into the net. Simultaneous to the goal being scored, Tyler Johnson and Torey Krug had dropped the gloves to go at it. Killorn added one more before the period ended, as he finished off a rebound to extend the Lightnings' lead to five goals. Kucherov would add one more to Tampa Bay's total early in the third, finishing off a pass from Brayden Point. Things got a bit rought halfway through the third, as a hit attempt by Kucherov spurred a reaction from McAvoy. McAvoy would get a penalty for his retaliatory hit, and a misconduct, effectively ending his night. Late in the period, Krejci and Coleman threw a couple of gloves-on punches at each other, ending their night. Krug was sent off seconds later for firing a puck at a linesman after an offside call. The game did eventually end, as the 7-1 blowout gave the Lightning the series lead.

Tampa Bay Lightning - 3

Boston Bruins - 1

 

While the Bruins lead in the shot counter early on, it was the Lightning who got on the board first. Point would stickhandle around Krug and pass to Palat, who snapped over the blocker of Halak and under the crossbar. Chances picked up in the second, but between drives to the net (Bruins) and the post (Lightning), nothing was going in during the first half of the period. About 12-and-a-half minutes in, Palat blasted a one-timer that Halak, while managing to get a piece of with his glove, could not fully stop. Play stopped a minute later, as a blindside hit by Richie propelled Gourde into the boards. The good news was that Gourde managed get up and skate off under his own power. Ritchie was assessed a five minute major for boarding. Tampa Bay managed to get one during those five minutes, as a point shot by Hedman bounced off of a Bruins defender, and lob its way over Halak and into the net. Boston got a couple of powerplay opportunities early in the third, but only managed to capitalize one of them. Jake DeBrusk ended up being the Bruin who snapped it by Vasilevskiy to end the shutout. Outside of a few Lightning chances, the game stayed relatively quiet afterwards. Tampa Bay's third win in a row put them to within a game of advancing.

Boston Bruins - 2

Tampa Bay Lightning - 3 (2OT)

Despite the low shot count by both teams in the first period, the game looked like it would be a goaltending duel, as Halak and Vasilevskiy both made key saves to keep the zeroes on the board. The dual shutouts would ended early in the second period. After a couple of chances to start the period, the Lightning broken through when Shattenkirk's point shot was redirected by Palat through traffic and past Halak.After that goal, momentum shifted in favour of the Bruins. A powerplay midway through the period was the break they needed, as Pastnrak blasted a one-timer from the faceoff dot into the back of the net. Tampa Bay got a few chances later on, but between Halak and the post, the game would remain tied as second period ended. Chacnes were once again exchanged in the third, but it took the better half of the period to  for one of these teams to get a break. The Lightning were once again that team, as a Hedman point shot was redirected by Anthony Circelli and fluttered past Halak's blocker. Getting closer to the end of regulation, the Bruins needed a goal to survive. They managed to do just that, as with 2:33 left in the period, a Zdeno Chara shot attempt ended up finding it's way to Krejci, who had no issue putting it into an open net. For the second time this series, overtime was needed to determine a winner. Keeping with most of the game, Boston had the shot advantage in the first overtime period. Despite this, they could not find a way to end it. A second OT period was needed. This time, it was Tampa Bay getting the shot. Unlike the Bruins, the Lightning made this advantage count. Just over 14 minutes into the period, Hedman's wrist shot found its way through a couple players (including a screened Halak) en route to the back of the net. The goal was what Tampa Bay needed to win and move on to the next round.

Three Thoughts on the Series

1. Jon Cooper is not a fan of the refs.
   
2. I do feel bad for Vladar. Not exactly the circumstances you want to make your NHL debut in, let alone against a team that tends to score at will.
3. Also feel bad for Charlie McAvoy, he had so many unlucky breaks during this series.
   

Picture of the Series

♫I BELIEVE I CAN FLY

I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY♫

 

Highlight of the Series

 

Zach Bogosian? More like Zach B-ORR-sian with that kind of rush am I right?