Everyone expected this Bruins-Lightning series to be an exhausting heavyweight bout. The first round didn't disappoint.
Sunday night's Game 1, a 3-2 Bruins win, showed why this is going to be so tough for both teams, and why there's going to be no such thing as comfortable for the next week-plus.
If anyone thought the Lightning might have an easier time facing Jaroslav Halak instead of Tuukka Rask, they were disabused of that notion. Halak made 35 saves, including stopping all 18 shots he faced in the second period as the Lightning desperately tried to mount a comeback.
If anyone thought the Bruins might have an easier time against the Lightning's top line with Steven Stamkos out, they should also now realize that won't be the case. The Lightning had a dominant 25-7 advantage in shot attempts at 5-on-5 when Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov were on the ice. The trio combined for 13 shots on goal, including eight from Kucherov.
The Lightning got their own reminder of how dangerous the Bruins' top players can be. They learned that even if Brad Marchand is all by himself in the offensive zone as his teammates make a line change, he can hang onto the puck long enough to wait for reinforcements and then still make a play, just as he did on the Bruins' first goal.
They saw just how dangerous the Bruins' top power-play unit is, how David Krejci will wait and wait and wait until you eventually give him just enough of a passing lane to set up David Pastrnak for one of his patented one-time goals.
Ryan McDonagh got a brutal wake-up call regarding Patrice Bergeron's relentlessness. Just as the Lightning defenseman thought he was in the clear and on his way to starting a breakout, Bergeron picked his pocket and set up the Bruins' third goal.
The Bruins, meanwhile, got a reminder that no lead is going to be safe. Last year's Lightning team was capable of getting demoralized, as they did in their first-round sweep at the hands of the Blue Jackets. This year's Lightning team isn't going to roll over.
It took 18 saves from Halak for the Bruins to maintain their 2-0 lead in the second period. Their third goal early in the third period felt like a dagger that was surely going to end the game, but the Lightning fought back and cut it to 3-1 with 11:10 to go, and then 3-2 with 1:14 to go, making for an uncomfortable finish as the Bruins just tried to, and ultimately did, hang on.
"At times I thought we needed a little bit more (composure), especially late game there we iced the puck a couple times, probably could've made it a little easier on ourselves for the last two minutes," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Had some opportunities to maybe make a play, get the empty netter and move on, or a soft play where we could get off the ice. But you've got to give credit to Tampa. They're one of the best offensive teams in the League, they come after you, so it's a little easier said than done."
Just think of the challenges facing both teams going forward. The Bruins need Halak to keep playing like this, and to do it on back-to-back nights in Games 2 and 3.
They need to continue to do just enough defensively against the Point line, and ideally cut down on their offensive zone time. The Zdeno Chara-Charlie McAvoy pairing and the fourth line got a lot of tough shifts against Tampa's top line, usually starting in the defensive zone. In fact, Chara, Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner were all on the ice for a grand total of zero offensive-zone draws -- Chara had 23 in the defensive zone and nine in the neutral zone.
The Bruins' top line also took a bunch of shifts against the Point line, and while they outscored the Tampa trio 1-0 head-to-head, they got out-attempted 10-3 and outshot 6-3 in that matchup.
The Lightning, meanwhile, need to make sure the Bruins' top line doesn't get even one chance to make a play. They actually did a pretty good against the so-called perfection line in terms of possession, shots and chances, but a couple mistakes resulted in two Bruins goals. And it could've been even worse, as Pastrnak hit a pair of posts as well.
They also need to stay out of the penalty box or find a way to do better against the Bruins' red-hot power play. That certainly won't be easy.
And the Lightning need to get more out of their second line of Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli and Tyler Johnson, which got pushed around by both the Charlie Coyle line (11-1 attempts and 1-0 goals head-to-head) and the David Krejci line (5-0 attempts head-to-head). Cirelli is considered one of the up-and-coming great two-way centers in the mold of Bergeron, but he didn't look like it in Game 1.
The Bruins did a lot of good things in Game 1, yet still had to hang on for dear life late. The Lightning also have some things they can feel good about, yet they're down 1-0. The to-do lists for both teams going forward are daunting.
This is how it's going to be. This is how it should be when two teams this good meet. See you Tuesday night for Round 2.
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