Brad Marchand enjoyed a good night in his 1,000th NHL game on Tuesday at the Garden.
He and the Bruins fell just short of making it a great one.
The B’s erased a two-goal deficit (Marchand had the primary assist on both goals) and had numerous chances to notch the go-ahead/winning goal — including one off Marchand’s stick in overtime. But the B’s couldn’t finish off the Tampa Bay Lightning and then Brayden Point scored the only shootout goal to lift the Bolts to a 3-2 win.
The B’s went 0-for-6 on the power play, including three failed PP chances in the third period, Meanwhile, Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy reminded B’s fans that the Bolts might not be the best first-round opponent for them as he made 35 saves, several of which were game-savers.
The urgency, missing from two anemic losses last week, was back, but the B’s let the second point slip through their fingers.
“Sometimes you lose games in this league and you feel like you deserve better and that’s going to happen. I was proud of our effort,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “Our power play needs to come through for us. Can’t go 0-for–6. That’s an area we have to look at right now.”
In overtime, Marchand first set up David Pastrnak for a great backdoor chance, but Vasilevskiy got over in time for the stop. Then Pastrnak set up Marchand for a chance in all alone, but Vasilevskiy just got a piece of his shot with his stick, then it hit the crossbar and pinged out of play.
“He made an incredible save. That’s why he’s one of the top goalies in the league,” said Marchand. “His effort and compete level is there every night. I thought I put it in a great spot to get it, but that just shows why he’s one of the best.”
The Bruins played better in the first period than they had in any of the periods in the two listless losses they suffered last week, but still went into the first intermission down 1-0, thanks to a soft goal by Linus Ullmark just 3:21.
Stay-at-home defenseman Erik Cernak had a clean shot on net from the top of the circles that was fired right at Ulllmark. It appeared as though he made the rather routine stop, but the puck slowly trickled through his pads and ever-so-slowly over the goal line by half an inch, just barely beating Charlie McAvoy’s desperate attempt to keep it out. It was not ruled a goal on the ice, but was rightly counted upon review.
Ullmark would make up for it shortly afterward when he stoned Hart Trophy candidate Nikita Kucherov on a clean breakaway, staying deep in his net to give him little at which to shoot.Marchand was recognized by the crowd for hiss milestone at the first TV timeout, the captain waved appreciative to the fans.
“That’s special,” said Marchand. “I know how fortunate I am to be part of this organization and one organization for your whole career, at least up to this point, that’s part of why I love being here so much, just how much the fans care and embrace the team. It’s really special and it flies by. You really have to enjoy every day.”
Then the B’s started getting some chances. But Vasilevskiy looked like he was back in his Vezina Trophy-winning form, especially on a strong power play in which the B’s kept it on the Tampa zone for almost the entire two minutes.
The B’s held a 11-6 shot advantage in the first, but had nothing to show for it. And they started the second period on the penalty kill after Danton Heinen high-sticked Kucherov late in the first period.
In the overflow PP time to start the second, Kucherov got both Heinen and Ullmark back. After Ulllmark stopped a Steven Stamkos one-timer, set up by Kucherov, the puck eventually made it’s way back to the right side to Kucherov, who roofed it over Ullmark for a 2-0 Tampa lead at 1:06.
But the B’s scored their first goal in nearly six periods 58 seconds later when Marchand fed McAvoy at the right point and his long-distance shot beat Vasilevskiy, thanks to a Charlie Coyle screen.
Both teams took their turns in their opponent’s end for extended stays, but the B’s finally tied it up with 3:37 on a delayed penalty kill. Marchand hopped over the boards and won back a couple of pucks before the Bolts could gain control of it. Finally, he fired a shot that Vasilevskiy stopped but couldn’t freeze. It dropped down in front of James van Riemsdyk (9), who jammed it between the netminder’s pads to make it 2-2.
But there was grave concern when Pastrnak appeared to suffer some sort of injury with just under two minutes left in the period. Victor Hedman deliver a what looked like a routine body check along the boards, but when Pastrnak tried to spin out of it, he hurt something. He went right to the bench and headed straight down the runway. But Pastrnak did return for the third period.
“It’s just hockey. You always have these tiny injuries. but I came back, so I was good,” said Pastrnak.
One of the few things that wasn’t good on the night was the final result.
