The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning kickstarted their week with their first of two matchups in a five-day span. They may very well meet again in another month or two to determine the road to the Stanley Cup Final.
But first thing’s first, the Bruins entered Tuesday’s matchup at Amalie Arena with a seven-point cushion over the Steven Stamkos-less Lightning. They created a two-goal cushion in Tampa on tallies from Brad Marchand (deemed a game-time decision because of illness) and Jake DeBrusk midway through the second period.
Bruce Cassidy’s squad had their lead cut on Mitchell Stephens’ third goal of the season with 2:32 left in the middle stanza.