Tampa Bay Lightning fall apart late in second, fall to Bruins 4-3

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
January 31, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – In the span of two minutes, the Lightning’s season flashed before their collective eyes.

It’s like that moment in a movie sequence where a glowing light appears and all the memories of the good times from the past come rushing by like a dream just before that light shines brightly from above and a lifeless body starts an ascent up toward the sky as the light starts to fade out.

That’s exactly how it felt for a Tampa Bay team that needed to find a way to get the post All-Star break schedule off on the right foot, only to potentially see the season come to an unofficial end following a 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at Amalie Arena.

{mprestriction ids=”1,2″}

And it might be defined during the final 2:20 of the second period when a 1-0 lead turned in to a 2-1 deficit heading in to intermission, punctuated by David Krejci’s go-ahead goal coming with 0.9 seconds left on the clock.

After playing a strong and controlled first period, the Lightning looked lethargic in the second even after taking the lead 8:41 in to the middle frame. Tampa Bay was just holding on when it all unraveled in the final three minutes.

It started when Anton Stralman was slew-footed by the league’s No. 1 pest Brad Marchand behind the play in the neutral zone but was not called for a penalty on the play (though he’s certain to hear from the league coming less than a week after being fined $10,000 for a similar play).

get your pitchforks ready pic.twitter.com/uKB3Leo1SR

— nope (@myregularface) February 1, 2017

Less than a minute after that play, Stralman was called for a tripping penalty that gave Boston a power play. Though that was negated on a Matt Beleskey boarding call for crushing Cedric Paquette from behind, it proved to be the second domino to fall that turned the game completely around.

Marchand, meanwhile, would go on to pick up a pair of assists on the two Boston goals, the first on a deflection goal by Patrice Bergeron during 4-on-4 play at 18:09 then on Krejci’s goal in the final second of the period.

”Well, a lot happened in that,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “There’s the whatever you want to call, the non-call on Stralman or whatever it was. Then we kind of, I don’t know what happened after that. We’d given up a few shots to that point, but we hadn’t given up a ton of scoring chances or anything like that. Then there’s the hit on Paquette, and I thought that pushed it over the top. We didn’t really answer after that, and then anytime you’re going to give up a goal with under a second left in a period, you know what, now you’re chasing the game a little bit.

“That seemed to rattle us a bit and that was it.’’

From the time of Killorn’s goal, Tampa Bay had just one shot on goal the rest of the period and went a span of 15 minutes, 24 seconds registering just the one shot on goal.

”We have to be more consistent,’’ Killorn said. “I think our first period was great. We came out really aggressive…We were playing physical. It seemed like we really wanted to win this game. In the second period, I’ll give them some credit they played well, but we have got to show a bit more fight than that.’’

Tampa Bay would tie the game on Killorn’s second goal of the game at 4:46 of the third period, but a breakdown in coverage just after a Boston power play chance saw Zdeno Chara left completely unchecked in the right circle as three Lightning defenders were around the puck in the left circle allowed Chara to pick the top-far corner at 7:51 to allow Boston to reclaim the lead.

To put the icing on the cake, Tyler Johnson had a breakaway chance to tie the game in the third, but instead of shooting he tried to slip a pass over to Victor Hedman and the play was broken up. Johnson said after the game he made the wrong read.

”I read a two-on-zero. Should’ve been selfish. I screwed up,’’ Johnson said. “It’s easier to say after the fact. It’s just one of those things.’’

Brayden Point, who returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a fractured finger on Dec. 28, would cut the deficit to a goal with 2:04 left in the third but the Lightning were unable to find the equalizer, done in by the final three minutes of the second period.

”It was a big game,’’ Stralman said. “I thought we played really well in the first period and throughout most of the second too. It’s just at the end of the second, the game turns around, and we can’t find a way back.

Postgame notes: D Jake Dotchin recorded his first career NHL point with a secondary assist on Point’s third period goal. Dotchin also finished with 20:25 of ice time. … D Luke Witkowski was a healthy scratch. … D Victor Hedman recorded his third three-assist game of the season. … LW Alex Killorn scored his 15th goal of the season and needs two more to match his career high. … LW Michael Bournival missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. … LW Brian Boyle missed the final 3:27 of the game when he was handed a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

My three stars:
1.Bruins C David Krejci – Goal, assist in 18:53 of ice time; won 12-of-21 faceoffs (57 percent)

2.Lightning LW Alex Killorn – Two goals, plus-3, fight

3.Bruins D Colin Miller – Two assists, plus-1, swept a goal off the line in the first period

Locker room reactions after the game

{/mprestriction}