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The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Boston Bruins by a score of 3-2 in a shootout last night, and thus eliminated their division rival from the playoff race once and for all.
Led by some incredibly strong goaltending from Ben Bishop, the Bolts were able to weather the storm created by a desperate Boston team. Timely offense from some unlikely sources, Jonathan Marchessault and Nikita Nesterov, ultimately gave the team enough to force the game into extra time and grab the victory.
I don’t think anyone was surprised to see the Bruins come out firing on all cylinders. As mentioned, they were desperate and in serious trouble – the Ottawa Senators had already beaten the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins were facing the Buffalo Sabres. When the Penguins beat Buffalo, Boston’s season effectively ended.
Despite that hot start from Boston, it took a little while for the offence to start flowing. The game’s first goal, scored at 5:08 of the second period, came in the form of Jonathan Marchessault’s first career tally at the NHL level. Streaking down the right side, he simply fired a big-league wrist shot past Tuukka Rask to give the Bolts a 1-0 lead.
The Bruins responded back only 52 seconds later when Loui Eriksson scored his 22nd of the year. Able to win a number of smaller puck battles, Boston moved the puck to the front of the net, and Eriksson was able to pop it home after a scramble.
That 1-1 score held through the end of the second period and into the third. The tie was broken 5:12 into the final frame when Nikita Nesterov, with help from Matt Carle and Marchessault, scored his third of the season. His shot from the point, a relatively meager wrist shot, eluded a screened Rask and found its way to the back of the net.
As noted, Marchessault was credited with the second assist on the Nesterov goal. That gave him a two-point night in only his second game with the Lightning this season. What does that mean? It means he finishes the year as a point-per-game player in the NHL! He was re-assigned to Syracuse earlier today.
Just as it looked like the Bolts were going to cruise to a regulation victory, Brad Marchand notched his 24th of the season with just over a minute to go. While the Penguins had knocked the Bruins out of contention just moments before, Marchand didn’t give up. Another scramble in front of the net allowed him to pounce on a loose puck and knock it past Bishop.
That meant the game needed extra time. Overtime solved nothing, and so the teams went to a shootout. Victor Hedman scored the only goal in the cocktail hour, which gave Tampa Bay their 50th (!) win of the 2014-15 season. What a phenomenal regular season it was, but this team has bigger goals in mind. It all starts on Thursday night at Amalie Arena against the Detroit Red Wings.
Also, a quick apology to everyone who had issues with the polls in last night's blog. I didn't realize it was redirecting people, so I'll be sure to use a different service next time around.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.
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