If last night’s Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning game could be summed in two things it would be: Bergeron and goaltending.
Compared to Game 2, Game 3 was much more edge of your seat thrill ride with both teams focusing more on strategy.
Patrice Bergeron‘s return to the game seemed to revive the Bruins’ confidence. Bergeron had missed two weeks due to a concussion he had received in a shoulder-to-head check from Claude Giroux during Round 2 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Tim Thomas was again goalie extraordinaire as he shut out the Lightning – his second playoff career shutout. Despite even the hair-raising moments, Thomas shut out the 31 attempts on net.
Not to mention the fact that the Bruins dominated this game, with David Krejci putting one in the net just over a minute into the game. From there the Bruins controlled play at puck drop 67% of the time. Bergeron himself won 18 of 28 faceoffs.
That’s not to say the Lightning didn’t make a great effort; the Bruins simply amped up their game and didn’t make mistakes. The Lightning are surely going to come back fighting harder for Game 4.
This win puts the Bruins ahead 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Final. Next game takes place at 1:30 pm EST in Tampa.
Tag: Boston Bruins
Eastern Conference Bruins and Lightning Goalies Pulling their Weight
With the Eastern Conference Final tied 1-1 between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning, a lot of pressure comes down on the players to push even harder than before. The two hardest working players in this final are Tim Thomas and Dwayne Roloson, the Bruins and Lightning goalies respectively.
Considered by many to have the best goal tending in this season’s run for the Stanley Cup, both Thomas and Roloson have only let in on average two goals per game during Rounds 1 and 2. Their playoff save average is incredibly similar as well: .941 for Roloson and .937 for Thomas.
Thomas has even been compared to legendary Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr. As for Roloson, many say his goaltending is the driving force behind the Lightning’s success in the playoffs.
The conference is tied 1-1. Next game between the Bruins and Lightning takes place tonight at 8 pm in Tampa. But what we really want to know is… who’s your favorite goalie this season?
NHL to Investigate Luongo and three Other Contracts
On Monday, NHL arbitrator Richard Block deemed the NHL was justified in rejecting Ilya Kovalchuck’s 17 year $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils.
In the aftermath, there has been significant discussion about other, similar front-loaded and the NHL has stated that other controversial contracts will be up for review. Long term deals that continue paying high salaries long after a players peak performance years are becoming more and more popular in the NHL as a way to circumvent the league’s salary cap.
Specifically named in Block’s report have been: Vancouver Canucks Robert Luongo, Chicago Blackhawks Marian Hossa, Philadelphia Flyers Chris Pronger and Boston Bruin‘s Marc Savard.
Mike Gillis, Vancouver Canucks‘ general manager has said that the league will Read More