The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning squared off in the fourth and final matchup of the 2020 regular season in what would be a great possible preview of a terrific postseason series.
Looking for revenge of Tuesday’s close loss to the Bruins, the Lightning were able to get past the Bruins. It didn’t take long for the Lightning to get on the board as Anthony Cirelli would net his 16th goal of the season just after the five-minute mark of the first period. The shorthanded goal, thanks to a botched face-off, came just after a two-minute minor penalty on Tampa’s Barclay Goodrow for elbowing Ondrej Kase.
AC JUST WORKS! ? pic.twitter.com/hiosG3ua4y
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2020
Just a minute later, another shorthanded goal was scored by Mikhail Sergachev for his 10th goal of the season. Needing some life, Goodrow picked a fight with Bruins winger Chris Wagner but the referees wouldn’t oblige, stopping the fight prematurely. Shortly after, the gloves would come off once again as Wagner and Goodrow traded right fists in a highly competitive fight in what was just the start of things.
Chris Wagner and Barclay Goodrow finally duke it out in a very competitive fight #NHLBruins https://t.co/FMy4SKOHfo pic.twitter.com/Mc2El2U3Kz
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) March 8, 2020
The second period started with Cedric Paquette going top shelf to earn his seventh goal of the season. The goal would give Tampa a 3-0 lead midway through the second period.
Bogo ? Ceddy! pic.twitter.com/zFPrZQX17o
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2020
Charlie McAvoy then added his fifth goal of the season in just his last 15 games after not having a goal in the first 51 games of the season.
After not scoring in his first 51 games of the season, Charlie McAvoy has 5 goals in his last 15 games pic.twitter.com/tdn7cIyZO5
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) March 8, 2020
The physicality came into play towards the end of the second as absolute mayhem broke out at the TD Garden as everyone on the ice traded punches. The brawls started when Zdeno Chara was pushed into the boards, annoying the veteran captain so much that he launched Sergachev’s stick into orbit. From there on, it was like watching a pay-per-view boxing match.
I present to you the best 2 minutes of the entire Boston Bruins season ??pic.twitter.com/KuOntFK4Zl
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) March 8, 2020
Through the midst of it all, Sean Kuraly added his sixth goal of the year after replay showed his puck went completely across the line. Just like that, the Bruins would head into the locker room down just one with another period left to go.
Just two minutes into the third period, Alex Killorn netted his 26th of the season on the powerplay as Brad Marchand was in the penalty box for slashing to end the second. After a hooking penalty on Nikita Kucherov, the theatrics continued as David Pastrnak scored his 48th goal of the season on a one-timer from Torey Krug and Brad Marchand.
David Pastrnak nets his 48th of the season and he’s now just two goals away from 50 on the year. (There’s still a month left in the regular season). pic.twitter.com/tong4eXRUf
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) March 8, 2020
The fighting would ensue once again as the Bruins and Lightning showed that the two don’t like each other very much. The playoff-type atmosphere was strongly felt in the TD Garden confines.
FIGHT NIGHT CONTINUES! The Bruins and Lightning STRONGLY dislike each other. This may be the biggest rivalry in hockey right now pic.twitter.com/VKJYj1S4Lr
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) March 8, 2020
After an empty-net goal by Kucherov in the final two minutes, scoring halted and Tampa secured the win. The win gave the Lightning 91 points on the season, seven behind the Bruins, who sit at 98. There is just under a month left in the season, and the race for the Atlantic Division is starting to heat up once again.
UP NEXT:
The Bruins will travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. EST to take on the red-hot Flyers.
The Lightning will have a quick turnaround, traveling to Detroit to battle the Red Wings at 5 p.m. EST tomorrow.
