Bruins roll past Lightning to remain hot
Jan 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) reacts after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period at the TD Garden. credits: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports Trent Frederic registered his third two-goal game of the season to lead the Boston Bruins past the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 on Saturday night.
The Bruins scored a season-high seven goals en route to their fifth win in six games, never trailing after a three-goal run in response to the visitors' 1-0 lead.
David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Charlie McAvoy, Morgan Geekie, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins.
Boston's Hampus Lindholm and Matt Poitras each added two assists.
Linus Ullmark made 23 saves.
Brayden Point scored twice, Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning, who have lost four of six.
The Lightning took a 1-0 lead only 21 seconds in, capitalizing on a turnover behind the net that allowed Kucherov to set up Point for a blocker-side finish on Ullmark in front.
A goal in the final second of Boston's first power play knotted the score at 4:42. After receiving Kevin Shattenkirk's pass from the center point, Frederic flicked a turnaround shot from outside the crease.
The Bruins took their first lead at 14:56 when Poitras and Danton Heinen won a corner battle and slid the puck up to McAvoy for a point shot that found its way through traffic.
Frederic's second goal came 1:49 into the second. Poitras dished to Matt Grzelcyk to start the play before taking a hit from Tampa Bay's Tanner Jeannot, but Frederic scored on a second chance at the left crease.
The teams traded 4-on-4 goals in 30 seconds, beginning with Kucherov's unassisted tally past a diving Ullmark at 7:53.
Pastrnak re-established Boston's two-goal advantage at 8:23, whipping home a breakaway goal off Pavel Zacha's stretch pass.
Tampa cut it to 4-3 with 4:07 left in the second. Kucherov slid to the bottom of the circle and dropped a cross-ice backhand pass through the slot to Point to shoot from the left side.
Pastrnak fed a charging Geekie down the slot for a Boston insurance goal only 1:35 into the third.
The Bruins iced the win with two goals in 40 seconds — a DeBrusk empty-netter and Coyle's breakaway after the penalty expired — late in the third.
With defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak out of Tampa Bay's lineup due to injury, Jack Thompson and Emil Martinsen Lilleberg made their NHL debuts.
—Field Level Media
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