Jake Debrusk scored a game winning second period goal, and Tuuka Rask made 20 saves Tuesday night as the Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in a matchup of two of the best teams in the league at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Boston (42-13-12) opened the scoring late in the first period when Torey Krug threw the puck from the right wing boards to the front of the net, and Brad Marchand re-directed it with his skate past Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on the powerplay at 19:05. The Lightning thought they had tied it in the second period, but their apparent tying goal was disallowed due to goalie interference with the Bruins netminder. Boston extended their lead when Debrusk won a race for a loose puck at center ice and skated in alone, deeking right to left and tucking a wristshot stick side at 10:05 on the powerplay that was the eventual game winner. Tampa Bay center Mitchell Stephens trimmed the deficit to 2-1 when he picked up a Tyler Johnson shot in the slot and scored on a wrister past Rask shorthanded at 17:28. Boston was able to hold off Tampa Bay in the third period despite being held to just four shots on net. Rask was able to make a couple Grade A saves as the division leaders got their first win over the Lightning this season (1-2).
Charlie Coyle, Krug, and David Pastrnak all had an assist a piece for Boston. Vasilevskiy made 33 saves in the loss for Tampa Bay (41-20-5). The Bruins were 2-3 on the powerplay, while the Lightning went 0-1. Boston, winners of three in a row, is in Florida still to battle the Panthers Thursday night.
