Danton Heinen was the Boston Bruins' only goal-scorer in Wednesday night's loss at Amalie Arena.
Danton Heinen was the Boston Bruins' only goal-scorer in Wednesday night's loss at Amalie Arena.
The Boston Bruins followed the high of Tuesday’s resilient win against the Florida Panthers with an average-at-best showing against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Wednesday night’s 3-1 loss.
While the Lightning did not play their best hockey, neither did their opponents. Tampa Bay’s ability to extend a lead, even by one goal, secured them the highly sought after two points.
With the win, the Lightning now hold sturdier to the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, widening their gap on the Washington Capitals to six points, and closing in on the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.
It’s the worn-out, end-of-season storyline: the Bruins need to find a way to win against desperate teams. Even more, though, they need to find consistency within themselves.
“Tough loss. Obviously we weren’t at our best and didn’t deserve to win. I think the outcome is just as it should be,” David Pastrnak said Wednesday to the media. “It’s too bad because it was a heck of a game by our group yesterday, and too bad we couldn’t kind of roll it over today.”
Boston has had a challenging time “rolling over” strong performances. The club has now lost three of its last five contests.
March 19’s 6-2 win over the Ottawa Senators was followed by a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers in which the B’s were wholly out worked. And again, a character, bounce-back victory over the Panthers is now dimmed by a flat 60 minutes against the Lightning at Amalie Arena where the same spark was missing.
“I didn’t think either team was on top of their game to be honest,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said to the media Wednesday. “I don’t think they were as sharp as they’ve been, and the intensity and the emotion in the game was not the same as it was for us last night.”
The Bruins got behind in the first period as Mitchell Chaffee made it 1-0 at 10:06. The Lightning forward picked up a backhanded pass from Nicholas Paul in the slot before slipping the puck past Linus Ullmark.
Danton Heinen found the equalizer at the end of the opening frame – and netted the B’s only goal of the night – at 17:11. Pavel Zacha was stationed below the goal line and pushed the puck up to Heinen who wristed it past Andrei Vasilevskiy from just above the crease for the 1-1 tie. The play marked Heinen’s 15th goal of the season, just three away from matching his career-high of 18.
A Brayden Point wrap-around shot at 6:50 of the second period regained Tampa Bay’s lead, now 2-1, and an empty-netter from Nikita Kucherov with 27 seconds remaining in regulation sealed things for the home team and neutralized the Bruins’ 6-on-5 effort.
“It’s hard to see the silver lining as of now, when we just got off the game,” Ullmark, who was steady all night with 28 saves, said to the media Wednesday. “Not good enough for my personal view, obviously. I’d like to win every game I’m playing.
There’s the excuse of the back-to-back, yes. And, perhaps, the fact that Tampa Bay is fighting for its playoff life. But, at the end of the day, it just doesn’t matter. The Bruins’ will to win must be heightened before the postseason, and consistency plays a big part of that.
The B’s schedule doesn’t get easier. They will next face the Capitals – another team essentially playing playoff hockey right now – Saturday night. The game means a whole lot more to Washington which sits in the second wild card spot, just two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. Can the Bruins find something to play for?
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