Lessons learned: The Bruins’ power play fails in the shootout defeat. Boston wasted a chance to pull away from the rival Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, going 0–6 with the man advantage.
On February 13, 2024, in Boston, at TD Garden, Brayden Point #21 of the Tampa Bay Lightning defeats Linus Ullmark #35 of the Boston Bruins with the game’s lone goal in the shootout.
The Bruins’ performance against the Lightning on Tuesday night wasn’t exactly the same as their 4-0 victory over the Canucks, who lead the Western Conference, last week. Still, it was a big step up from their lackluster performances against the Flames and Capitals, two teams that could make the Draft lottery, following the All-Star break.
Their two stinkers yielded a slightly better outcome in the end. However, Jim Montgomery’s team was still one point short of winning another comeback game.
Thanks to a basket by Charlie McAvoy and a James van Riemsdyk rebound, the Bruins overcame a 2-0 deficit. In his 1,000th career game, Brad Marchand recorded primary assists on offensive second-effort situations.
The Bruins appeared to be the superior team in 5v5. At even strength, their lone mistake occurred on the opening shot of the match, a 3:21-in shot from Erik Cernak that slipped past Linus Ullmark.
On the other hand, Boston’s special teams seldom clicked. A typically dependable Bruins penalty kill was overpowered by a quick Lightning power play. Following strong net-front play around Ullmark’s crease, Nikita Kucherov, the most dangerous player on Tampa’s strong man advantage, pounced to extend the Bolts’ lead to 2-0.
Tampa went 1 for 3 on the power play, and the Bruins were unable to respond. They missed three chances in the third to take the lead, and they also blew a chance in the last 2.6 seconds of overtime in a situation that was effectively a 5-on-3, only to lose badly on a man-advantage night. In the shootout, that gave the Lightning an advantage.
After making 35 saves in the traditional skills competition, Andrei Vasilievskiy stopped David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle when it was time, and he also saw Jake DeBrusk’s shot miss the mark. After a friendly bounce off Ullmark’s stick and glove, Brayden Point scored the only goal in the shootout, ensuring Tampa’s victory, 3-2.
Here’s what we discovered as the Bruins lose their seven-game homestand to start the season at 1-2-1.
Marchand watches his one thousandth game. The captain of Boston started out playing with Shawn Thornton, Daniel Paille, and Gregory Campbell in a fourth-line rotation. During his 2010–11 rookie season, the 2006 third-round pick—who possessed both skill and will—moved into a top–six position alongside Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi.
Marchand surmounted more obstacles after winning his first and so far only Stanley Cup, and he never looked back. Along the road, he developed into a well-rounded leader and future Hockey Hall of Famer, transforming from the offensively proficient agitator of the “Little Ball of Hate” days. Marchand answered questions in advance of his most recent achievement, displaying his characteristic grateful but unsatisfied attitude. However, even he was unable to fully suppress his feelings in the wake of such a noteworthy achievement.
Modes:
After all, Marchand witnessed Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and David Krejci all take in the surroundings of a 1,000th game. In Marchand’s case, the tears began during Todd Angilli’s latest rendition of the national anthem.
“I tried to block a lot of it out of my mind before the game; I just tried to stay focused and in the moment,” Marchand told reporters. “It’s something that going through a lot of these moments with like Bergy and Krech and Zee, that’s one of the things that I remember they did is they tried to take it in and remember the moment, and that was the opportunity to do th
