When the Bruins returned from their two-week break with three straight wins and an explosion of goals from their new lines, it all came with a “yeah, but.” The “but” was that those three wins came against three non-playoff teams in the Sabres, Red Wings and Devils.
They needed to prove themselves against a good team before some fans and media were going to buy into the renewed optimism. A 3-2 loss to the Wild -- albeit an entertaining one -- on Thursday reinforced that skepticism.
Well, how does a convincing win over the Tampa Bay Lightning sound? That’s what the Bruins delivered in a big road win Saturday night, beating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions 5-2. It would be hard not to be impressed by this one.
The scoring started with some good old-fashioned puck luck, something the Bruins haven’t gotten enough of this season. Just over a minute into the game, Pastrnak entered the offensive zone and took a long shot that deflected off a Lightning skate and past an off-his-line Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Bruins didn’t need luck the rest of the night, though. They just straight-up outworked the Lightning for much of the night, including on the rest of their goals.
Pastrnak scored his second goal of the game and third in the last three games five minutes after his first. He helped win possession with a good forecheck that forced an errant breakout pass. Then he went to the front of the net, where he collected a rebound off a Taylor Hall shot and calmly put it home.
With Pastrnak’s two goals Saturday, he, Hall and Erik Haula have now combined for six goals in five games since being put together on the new-look second line.
Next it was the top line’s turn. After a quiet first period that saw them doing more defending than attacking against Tampa Bay’s top line, they made it 3-0 just 26 seconds into the second. Craig Smith and Brandon Carlo combined to keep a puck in on the right boards. Then Patrice Bergeron set up Mike Reilly for a shot that Brad Marchand deflected in for his second goal in as many games.
Now, could the Bruins get some of that bottom-six scoring they got during that three-game win streak? Yeah, they sure could. Later in the second period, Oskar Steen outmuscled Cal Foote to win a loose puck battle and set up Anton Blidh for his first goal since returning to the lineup on Thursday.
Steen has been a revelation since entering the lineup on Sunday, as he now has a goal and two assists in the four games since. He’s up to five points in seven games on the season, and he’s actually (in a very small sample size) one of the leading 5-on-5 producers in the NHL (see the graphic below). Oh, and he was Providence’s leading scorer with 20 points in 16 games in the AHL.
Steen had earned more playing time anyways, but his presence became even more important because of one of the few negatives Saturday: Nick Foligno left the game with a lower-body injury midway through the first period after twisting his leg on an awkward fall and did not return. Bruce Cassidy didn't have an update after the game other than to say Foligno probably wouldn't play Monday either.
The Lightning mounted a little bit of a comeback in the third, pulling within two on goals from Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point. But the Bruins got a big penalty kill late and sealed the win with a hard-earned empty-netter. Bergeron and Charlie Coyle combined to win a board battle, and then Marchand won a 1-on-1 battle against Victor Hedman before firing into the open cage.
"There was a lot to like. I think our puck battles [is what I liked the most]," Cassidy said after the game. "I think a lot of our goals were generated by winning pucks on the wall, playing north, minimizing mistakes in terms of them getting easy chances. I guess that’s what I liked best about our game. We played a hard-to-play-against type of style tonight."
Despite the two third-period goals, the defense and goaltending was pretty good all night, as it has been recently. After holding the Lightning to 29 shots on Saturday, the Bruins have now kept seven straight opponents to 30 shots or fewer. Linus Ullmark, who had a few big saves in the third, is now 7-2-0 with a .928 save percentage in his last nine starts.
The Bruins played the Lightning tough a month ago, too, but came up just short in a 3-2 overtime loss. They didn’t have Marchand or Charlie McAvoy for that one, but the Lightning didn’t have Point or Nikita Kucherov either. Well, Tampa had those two offensive stars this time, while the Bruins once again didn’t have McAvoy due to a lingering lower-body injury (he could be back Monday).
The Bruins had a couple road wins in Edmonton and Calgary after that that were good wins, but maybe not quite the signature wins we thought at the time give how much both of those teams have struggled since then.
There’s no downplaying Saturday night, though. This wasn’t a moral victory or fluke win. This was a convincing two-point night against a nearly full-strength Lightning team that's tied for the league lead in points. So yeah: Statement made. The post-holiday Bruins can play with and beat a top team.