Game 3 of Lightning - Bruins went on as planned, and it wasn’t close. The Lightning blew the Bruins out 7-1, taking a 2-1 series lead.
NHL holds “moment of reflection” before Game 3 of Lightning - Bruins
While various NBA, MLB, and MLS games were canceled on Wednesday, Game 3 of Lightning - Bruins went on. The NHL presented a “moment of reflection” before the national anthems.
You can read more about that “moment of reflection” here, and watch it in the video below:
Lightning start Game 3 fast, never really let up against Bruins
Whether you attribute it to a faster team being fresher during a back-to-back or merely carrying over strong play from Game 2, the Lightning raced off to a strong start and didn’t give the Bruins much hope of winning.
To start, the Lightning shook off growing worries about their power play. Ondrej Palat’s shot deflected past Jaroslav Halak to make it 1-0 on the man advantage, and then Yanni Gourde took advantage of a lucky break (Jeremy Lauzon bumping with an official) to stun the Bruins with a 2-0 goal. In the span of 15 seconds, the Lightning built a healthy 2-0 first-period lead.
That burst alone was pretty stunning:
Then the Lightning really routed the Bruins during the second period. Early in the second, Mikhail Sergachev made it 3-0 with another power-play goal. Brad Marchand then gave the Bruins some life with a power-play tally of their own, but that sign of life was brief. Alex Killorn scored the Lightning’s third power-play goal to make it 4-1.
Remarkably, that wasn’t it for the second period. Brayden Point and Alex Killorn added another goal apiece to put Tampa Bay up 6-1 to end the second, then Nikita Kucherov added a 7-1 goal in the third.
[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
As strong as Jaroslav Halak has been during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, this was a game to forget. Halak got the hook after allowing four goals, only for Dan Vladar to make an unenviable debut. (Vladar ended up allowing three goals.)
After the Bruins won Game 1, the Lightning rattled off wins in back-to-back days to take a 2-1 series lead. This was such a dud of a performance by the Bruins that you might just want to “burn the tape.” And also hope that if this series went to seven games, and another back-to-back, that it goes very differently for the Bruins.
Of course, with the way the Lightning are playing, we’ll see if the Bruins can get things going after this lopsided contest.
No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 4 Boston Bruins (TBL leads series 2-1)
Game 1: Bruins 3, Lightning 2 (recap)
Game 2: Lightning 4, Bruins 3 (OT) (recap)
Game 3: Lightning 7, Bruins 1
Game 4: Friday, Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET – USA Network
Game 5: Sunday, Aug. 30, 8 p.m. ET – NBC
*Game 6: Tuesday, Sept. 1 – TBD
*Game 7: Wednesday, Sept. 2 – TBD
*if necessary
MORE STANLEY CUP COVERAGE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule