Boston Bruins fall after a strong start to game 4 (Part 2)
As Boston Bruins felt comfortable and confident that they had sealed the game and could win it easily, Lightning was able to step up its game to make a tremendous comeback to level the series.
This resulted in Lightning catching their opposition off guard and scoring goals on regular basis to notch up a win in the end. According to Bruin’ goalkeeper, Thomas, his team was outplayed by Lightning.
The dream-come-true start for the Bruins started with Patrice Bergeron scoring two goals and Michael Ryder bagging one. After the Bruins won the second game with a 2-0 score, it looked as if they could easily get past the task of winning the game.
However, Lightning used the home ice advantage to its fullest and scored five goals in the next two periods to complete a 5-3 win over their competitors.
The period saw both teams coming up with exactly same number of shots with Bruins behind by one on nine. However, the thing that was able to put Lightning ahead was their excellent goal scoring, finding the back of the net thrice.
Lightning got the winning goal through Simon Gagne that pleased everyone to a great extent.
"It's a different year and a different team, but one thing that hasn't changed about him -- Gagne is a money player. He's a clutch player, and he's always been", Lightning’s coach, Guy Boucher, said. "Whenever it's a big moment, you know he's there".
Gagne had a chance to double his score tally with the net empty but he was unsuccessful in finding the goal and the game ended with one goal to his name.
Bruins was also struggling on the power-plays as they had two power-plays in the final period. It could have easily scored in them but from the looks of it, Bruins panicked and this cost them the game in the end.
With this, Lightning also changed the goalkeeper to give goalie, Mike Smith, a feel of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Another one of the flaws in Bruins’ game on the day was the fact that they had numerous turnovers and just couldn’t maintain the level and quality that they displayed in the opening two games of the series.
"We just lost our focus", Bruins’ coach, Claude Julien, said. "We played really well in the first period -- not because of what the score was, but we did the right things and we took that lead. The message was pretty clear; we had to continue playing the
same way”.
Bruins need to forget game four now and need to regroup.
The next game is on their home ice and they need to win it as the winner of this crucial game would lead the series with just two games remaining and a major psychological advantage.
Tags: