Dustin Tokarski shines for Tampa Bay as Lightning strikes down hard on Boston Bruins 6-1 -NHL
It looked like the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals all over again as Tampa Bay and Boston were going up again head-to-head. The Lightning struck down hard this time as their young goalie, Dustin Tokarski, had a near shutout to dominate Bruins, 6-1, Tuesday
night, March 13, 2012, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Florida.
Boston certainly did get a check to reality as they were heading into the playoffs thinking of themselves to be unstoppable, but Tampa Bay showed that toppling Tim Thomas was not as hard as it looked.
Tampa Bay has a lot of expectations from Tokarski and the youngster is finally beginning to show some signs of being able to lead the team in the goaltending department. He made 33 saves for a near shutout, letting only one through during the entire contest.
Lightning struck right from the first period as Tom Pyatt, Nate Thompson, Ryan Shannon and Victor Hedman scored four back-to-back goals for the home team, giving them a comfortable 4-0 lead heading into the next 20 minutes.
Steven Stamkos added the fifth in round-two and his 50th of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season in the next period, to reach yet another milestone in his career by staying as consistent in scoring as a player possibly can.
"Getting 50 goals is something special," Stamkos said. "It's a magic number in hockey, and it's so special to do it in front of your home fans with a big win. That makes the memory last even longer and better. It's a great feeling and something that no one
can ever take away from me."
Jordan Caron has been very dependable for Boston during these past few games and added his seventh of the year in the opening minutes of the third for Bruins only goal of the game.
"What's really throwing us off right now is we give those teams leads, and all of a sudden guys are getting frustrated, and we just kind of get away from our game plan," Boston coach, Claude Julien, said.
Tampa Bay snapped a three-game losing streak and with a hot headed goalie and forward on the move, they can expect an even bigger win against Toronto Maple Leafs at home on Thursday.
Having lost three straight now, Boston will be looking to rebound against Florida Panthers on the same day on the road.
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