Mike Smith(notes) has joined Simon Gagne(notes) in hurting the Boston Bruins in the course of the postseason.
Smith was excellent in relief of goalie Dwayne Roloson(notes), and Gagne snapped a tie within the third period for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who erased an early three-goal deficit and evened the Eastern Conference finals having a 5-3 win in Game four over the Bruins on Saturday.
Roloson was pulled inside the very first period following he allowed 3 objectives on nine shots. Smith came on and created 21 saves as the Lightning avoided dropping into a huge hole against the surging Bruins. Boston will host Game five on Monday.
“There’s no time to believe,” Smith said. “It’s just 1 of those points where we got behind the 8-ball there inside the initial. That’s why I’m on the bench, to come in and type of settle the team down and give them just a little bit of a momentum. It ended up working out.”
Gagne scored the winning objective last season for Philadelphia when the Flyers rebounded from a 3-0 series deficit plus a 3-0 hole in Game 7 to beat the Bruins inside the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“I believe what happened last year, it is behind (us),” Gagne said. “Things are unique now. I’m playing having a distinctive team. Boston is really a diverse team. Suitable now it is just going on the market and attempting to be the distinction inside the game.”
Teddy Purcell(notes) scored twice inside the second period when the Lightning tied it at three. Tampa Bay also got a objective from Sean Bergenheim(notes), who leads the NHL with nine playoff objectives immediately after scoring 14 times in the course of the normal season.
Martin St. Louis(notes) sealed the win within the final minute with an empty-net objective.
Gagne gave the Lightning a 4-3 lead when he beat Tim Thomas(notes) from the best circle 6:54 into the third period soon after Tampa Bay left wing Ryan Malone(notes) stole the puck near the blue line. The Lightning outshot the Bruins 9-1 by way of the very first seven minutes of the period immediately after scoring 3 unanswered objectives within the second.
“We got outworked,” Thomas said. “They took over. They took the play to us. They began finding scoring chances and we stopped finding scoring chances.”
Smith replaced Roloson with two minutes to go inside the 1st and then produced 13 saves within the second en route to his very first NHL playoff win in his second career postseason appearance-both this series in relief of Roloson.
Lightning coach Guy Boucher said Saturday’s game doesn’t alter Roloson’s status.
“We have our No. 1 goaltender,” Boucher said. “He’s taken us to this location suitable now, and that’s the reason why we’re here. Smitty has been terrific. So whenever it is time for him to assist the team and make an effort to alter the momentum around, I do not hesitate. It was the very same in Boston. We put him in. I do not keep in mind the last poor game he’s played.”
Patrice Bergeron(notes) scored twice in the course of a three-goal very first period that put the Bruins up 3-0. The alternate captain missed the very first two games of the series due to a concussion sustained when he was hit by Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux(notes) inside the final game of the second round.
“We stopped battling,” Bergeron said. “The second, we sat back and they’ve got an excessive amount of speed. We weren’t executing at all. We had been on our heels. It is frustrating. We’ve got to be a whole lot superior.”
Michael Ryder(notes) also scored for the Bruins, who had won two straight within the series.
“A lot of our players did not play their very best game,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “We just lost our focus.”
Purcell cut the Lightning’s deficit to 3-2 having a pair of objectives midway via the second. The very first came on a backhander from the slot at 6:55. The correct wing followed that having a objective from the correct circle 1:03 later.
“It was a superb shift for me, and 1 I’ll constantly don't forget, that’s for positive,” Purcell said.
Bergenheim outworked Boston defenseman Tomas Kaberle(notes) for the puck behind the net and scored from below the best circle to tie it at three with 9:07 left within the second.
“We just need to let this 1 go,” Bruins center Brad Marchand(notes) said. “We’re going residence in our creating for Game five and we’re excited about it.”
It was Tampa Bay’s second fast three-goal surge inside the series. The Lightning scored a team-playoff record 3 times in a 1:25 spurt of their 5-2 win in Game 1.
Thomas, coming off a 2-0 victory in Game three, had a scoreless stretch of 93 minutes, 40 seconds snapped when Purcell scored his initial.
“I believe the focus need to be on winning the next game,” Thomas said. “It is what it can be. It is 2-2. I do not know what the use of worrying about that (momentum) could be.”
Bergeron put the Bruins up 1-0 11:47 in right after he got possession of the puck near the post and put a shot past Roloson. The objective came following Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman(notes) produced an ill-advised pass from behind the net that got past teammate Brett Clark(notes).
Ryder got a break at 16:34 when his pass toward the slot was deflected by Tampa Bay defenseman Mike Lundin(notes) and got past Roloson.
The Lightning not just failed to score on a power play, but allowed Bergeron’s short-handed objective late within the very first. The center created it 3-0 with 2:02 left inside the period following stealing a pass by Lightning center Steven Stamkos(notes) within the neutral zone and firing a shot from the leading of the left circle past Roloson, who was then removed from the game.
Bergeron has four objectives and 14 points in 13 playoff games this season.
Tampa Bay perfect wing Steve Downie(notes) received a roughing penalty plus a 10-minute misconduct in the course of a scrum as the very first period ended. Tampa Bay’s Marc-Andre Bergeron(notes) and Boston’s Wealthy Peverley(notes) both got fighting majors.
Notes: Bruins C David Krejci(notes) was a minus-3, and lost 9 of 12 faceoffs. … The Lightning dominated faceoffs overall, winning 39 of 65. … Tampa Bay D Pavel Kubina(notes), out given that the very first game of the conference semifinals against Washington when his head went into the glass on a hit, missed his seventh straight game. He hasn’t resumed skating and there isn't any timetable for his return. … Boston fell to 7-1 within the postseason when scoring very first. … Smith also replaced Roloson in Tampa Bay’s 6-5 loss to Boston in Game 2.