After their early multi-goal lead was whittled to a one-goal margin with just under 30 minutes left, the Lightning dug in defensively. They held Boston without a goal the rest of the way and recorded their first victory of the year.
Not only did the Lightning welcome back J.J. Moser to the lineup (after serving a two-game suspension), they mixed up their forward lines. A unit of Anthony Cirelli, Jake Guentzel, and Gage Goncalves (which saw some time together as a line in Saturday’s contest against New Jersey) teamed up for two first-period goals. On the first, Guentzel stripped Charlie McAvoy in the neutral zone while on the backcheck. The Lightning countered and executed a tic-tac-toe passing play that ended with a Cirelli tap-in at 1:09. The second goal started with a Guentzel interception of a Nikita Zadorov pass in the Boston end. Moments later, Cirelli accepted a Guentzel centering feed from behind the net and finished a left-circle shot at 13:16.
It was a good first period for the Lightning, who were more in sync than they had been in earlier of their first two home games. They generated several dangerous scoring chances that Boston goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped. At the other end, the Lightning did a better job of limiting scoring chances than they had in the two home games, but it wasn’t a perfect defensive period. Jonas Johansson made a handful of tough saves in keeping Boston off the board.
A new-look line of Yanni Gourde, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Pontus Holmberg followed up a strong opening frame with a productive second period. Gourde and Holmberg finished chances around the net. Their goals came early in the period. Unfortunately, the Lightning also allowed two goals early in the second. In between the Holmberg goal that made it 4-1 at 3:37 and Jordan Harris’ tally on a two-on-one at 5:31, the Lightning had a chance to extend the lead to 5-1. But they were unable to convert on a three-on-one (Brandon Hagel ran out of room at the side of the net). Moments later, Harris cut the lead to two.
At that point, Boston had momentum. The Bruins kept it for much of the rest of the period. Morgan Geekie tallied a four-on-four goal directly off a faceoff at 11:35, and it was 4-3. The Bruins also enjoyed two power-play chances in the frame, one of which came after the Geekie goal. But the Lightning navigated through them successfully (they dodged a bullet when Mason Lohrei’s shot hit the post on the second of those chances).
The third period featured fewer scoring chances, although the Lightning had to kill two more penalties before the game concluded, including one in the final seconds. For the game, Boston posted nine power-play shots—Johansson stopped them all.
So the Lightning’s penalty kill was a big key to the win, going 5-5. They got through the kills despite having a tough day in the faceoff circle. The Bruins went 8-1 on power-play faceoffs. For the game, they won 42 and lost only 18. But in the closing moments, Anthony Cirelli won two crucial faceoffs when the Bruins had Korpisalo on the bench for an extra attacker.
The Lightning probably would have enjoyed winning this one going away, especially after they built two separate three-goal leads. Instead, the way they had to gain the two points required them to buckle down in the final 38 minutes. Thankfully and impressively, they were able to do it.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
Anthony Cirelli — Lightning. Two goals. Two faceoff wins late in game. 6:21 PK TOI.
Pontus Holmberg — Lightning. Goal and assist.
Jonas Johansson — Lightning. 30 saves.