*Photo from the Boston Globe*
All the Boston Bruins needed on Thursday night was 3 servings of Pasta. Erik Haula had 3 assists, David Pastrnak netted a hat trick, and the Bruins rallied to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 3-2 win on Thursday in Boston.
This was two wins in one game for the Bruins. Winning the game itself was win number one. Win number two came in the standings. With the regulation win, the Bruins jumped to 85 points, one ahead of the 84 point Lightning and into 3rd place in the Atlantic Division. Boston is also tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second spot in the Atlantic.
Pastrnak said of the win that "Obviously it's a big win. Our main focus is to focus on our game and grow our game. We have tons of games left. Obviously, to beat a great team like Tampa is a confidence booster. I think at the same time, we deserved to win today. I think we were the better team."
The first goal of the game came from Brandon Hagel, who scored a shorthanded goal 7:11 into the second period to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead, his 23rd goal of the season and first with the Lightning. Pastrnak then tied the game on a breakaway at the 9:55 mark of the second, his 34th goal of the season, assisted by Haula and new Bruin Hampus Lindholm.
The Lightning took a 2-1 lead when Steven Stamkos scored 3:51 into the 3rd period, knocking home his 28th goal of the season, assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. Pastrnak then scored to tie the game 8:17 into the 3rd period, with Haula and Connor Clifton assisting. With 4:10 left in regulation, Pastrnak completed the hat trick to give the Bruins the 3-2 lead and win.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said that "This is the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, so we're excited we won and played well, but we're not getting ahead of ourselves here. We know who Tampa Bay is, they know who they are, and the road runs through them eventually. But this is good. It's good for the guys in the room to know that if we play a certain way, we have a chance to beat them and outplay them in certain areas."
It was rookie Jeremy Swayman who got the start for the Bruins, and he turned in a great performance. Swayman stopped 22 of the 24 Tampa Bay shots he faced, posting a .917 save percentage. Swayman's record improves to a 19-8-3 record in 30 starts on the season.
All world goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start and took the loss for the Lightning. Vasilevskiy had a strong outing in net, saving 36 of the 39 shots on goal from the Bruins, good for a .923 save percentage. Vasilevskiy's record dropped to 32-14-4 with the loss.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said that "Part of you is sitting here, saying 'Hey, we've got a veteran team. We've been there before, won a couple times, and we'll come out of it.' The other part of you is saying, 'Why are we in this at this point in the season?' Teams go through this. It's 82 games. We're better than this. If we're going to execute the way we're executing right now, it's not going to get better any time soon."
Up next, the Bruins play host to the New York Islanders on Saturday night, with Linus Ullmark likely to get the start. The Lightning travel to face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, with Vasilevskiy to get the start.
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