Recap: Bruins can’t hold a lead, lose to Tampa in overtime

An ugly finish.

In a back-and-forth affair at Amalie Arena, it was Tampa who scored last and ended up with the win.

Brandon Hagel scored just over a minute into overtime, giving the Lightning a 5-4 win in a chaotic game.

The Bruins took the lead late in the third on a Charlie Coyle goal, only to allow the game-tying goal with five seconds left and to never actually touch the puck in overtime.

NOT GREAT.

To the highlights!

Tanner Jeannot got things started for Tampa just under seven minutes into the game, following up the play and potting a rebound to make it 1-0 Lightning.

The Czechs connected three minutes later, the Pavel Zacha finishing a slick David Pastrnak feed to make it a 1-1 game.

I have absolutely nothing to back this up, but for some reason I feel like Nick Paul always scores against the Bruins. Anyways, he actually did tonight, getting a PPG with 30 seconds left in the first to make it 2-1 Lightning.

Giving Pastrnak this much space is a bold decision that didn’t work out for Tampa. 2-2 game early in the second.

Just over a minute later, John Beecher showed some good tenacity to stick with a messy play and eventually found the back of the net to make it 3-2 Bruins.

The lead did not last long — Austin Watson scored with a nice shot from the face-off dot to make it a 3-3 game.

After a terrific effort from James van Riemsdyk, Charlie Coyle beats Jonas Johansson with a dart to make it 4-3 Bruins late in the third.

Beecher would take a high sticking penalty with just over two minutes left in the third, which the B’s killed — only to leave Steven Stamkos all alone at the dot with five seconds left. Bad idea. 4-4 game.

Overtime was brief, and similar to the OT loss to Anaheim earlier in the season, the Bruins barely participated.

A poorly timed line change led to a 2-on-0, which Hagel finished himself to end it. 5-4, Lightning win.

Game notes

• While it continues to feel silly to complain about results when the Bruins’ overall record is so impressive, this is now the second time this season the B’s have badly fumbled a game in the dying minutes. This one feels especially disappointing when you consider they did the hard part (killing a late penalty) only to chase the puck and leave one of the better goalscorers of his generation completely unoccupied.
• To compound frustrations, the B’s actually blew two leads in the third period (3-2 and 4-3), and had a few different chances to clinch the game by clearing the zone.
• Whichever linesman it was that made the “not offsides” call deserves a lot of credit. Watching that Victor Hedman play live from the TV angle, I thought it was out. After seeing the replay, the linesman got it spot on (at full speed, no less).
• Tampa nearly doubled up the B’s in shots on goal, with 46 to the Bruins’ 27. Tampa also had six power play opportunities, while the Bruins had two.
• This one was, for decent stretches, the kind of chippy affair you’d expect from two divisional rivals. Scrums, roughing, boarding…a smorgasbord of shenanigans.
• It was a light night for both Oskar Steen and Jakub Lauko, which was a bit surprising given the heaviness of the game (and their abilities to play that style). Steen skated just 5:15, while Lauko skated 7:24; Steen had just a single shift in the third, with two for Lauko.
• Speaking of ice time, Matt Poitras got less and less as the game went on. He had four shifts in the second period and two in the third. He sat the final 14 minutes of regulation and wasn’t involved in overtime.
• Jeremy Swayman allowed five goals in a game for the first time since February of last season — a total of 22 starts.

The B’s will face a different set of Florida Men on Wednesday, paying a visit to the Panthers in Sunrise.