Bruins Battle for Well-Earned Point Against Tampa

BOSTON - The hits kept on coming for the Bruins on Saturday.
With Brad Marchand and Bruce Cassidy already away from the team, Boston's rocky week continued when it was learned that both Charlie McAvoy (non-COVID illness) and Jakub Zboril (lower-body) would be sidelined against the Lightning.

The Black & Gold then found themselves down two goals early in the second period despite carrying play for the vast majority of the opening two frames.
But through it all, Boston managed to battle back behind goals from Charlie Coyle and Curtis Lazar to pull out a well-earned point in a 3-2 overtime loss to two-time defending champion Tampa on Saturday night at TD Garden.
"You want to get every point you can. You work back from a couple of goals to gain one, and that's huge down the road. Of course, we wanted to finish it off. We had some opportunities, and we didn't. [Jeremy Swayman] played some good hockey to keep us in it. And they're a good team," Charlie Coyle said after Lightning captain Steven Stamkos handed Boston its first OT setback of the season with the winning tally at 1:31 of the extra session.
"But you want every point you can. One side of it, I think it's good to claw back and work and grab that point, but there's also some things we can work on when you don't win a game. We can look at that and come back and get better from it."
After falling behind, 2-0, on a shorthanded tally from Taylor Raddysh and a whacky deflection off an Ondrej Palat shot, the Bruins - who outshot Tampa, 39-25, for the game - kept pushing. Coyle pulled Boston within a goal when he finished off a gorgeous behind-the-back feed from Erik Haula with 3:30 left in the second, before Curtis Lazar knotted things at 2 with a beautiful, backhanded finish at 4:44 of the third.
"I think our guys played real well tonight, especially being down 2-0 to that team," said Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco. "But, even when we were down, 2-0, we were playing a good, solid game, and I thought the process was good for our guys. And we felt that being down, 2-0, we were still in the game.
"When we got that goal there in the second period, that kind of lifted us again and got us right back in there. We played hard tonight. We competed. Really nobody took the night off. We had everybody on board, and it was good to see. Unfortunately, we don't get the end result, the extra point, but we can build off that game, for sure."

More news and notes from the B's 3-2 overtime loss to Tampa:

Haula Keeps Building:On Coyle's tally late in the second period, it was Haula's outstanding feed that was the highlight of the play and another example of the veteran forward's game rounding into form. It marked his second helper in as many games.
"He is playing better, there's no question, and I think it shows in his game," said Sacco. "He's around the net, he's on pucks, he's competing. Like we said, his game is heading in the right direction and trending where we want it to be. And I think he has another level that he can get to as well."
Haula has appeared to build some quick chemistry with Coyle and Craig Smith as Boston's second line over the two three games.
"We might have saw a few shifts together [with the Wild]," Coyle said of his time together with Haula in Minnesota from 2013-17. "But I've played with him, on this team enough to know how he is, what are his tendencies and all that. He has great speed, so it's nice when it clicks right away, when you find your linemates and all that. We'll see what happens when Brad gets back."

Marchand Set to Return: With Marchand serving the final game of his suspension on Saturday, the winger will be back in the lineup on Wednesday night in Vancouver. And with his return, the Bruins will have some decisions to make when it comes to configuring the forward group, especially after a strong showing from Taylor Hall alongside Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak in Marchand's absence.
"We will have to meet and talk about the lines with [Bruce Cassidy] and see where we want to go," said Sacco. "But as far as Taylor goes, hopefully he can just pick up where he left off with whoever he is playing with. He can play like that regardless of who he is playing with, and he just had to keep that mindset."
Lazar Cashes In: The Bruins tied the game early in the third period after a strong forecheck from Tomas Nosek freed the puck up for Lazar in the slot. Lazar then dangled around a Tampa defender and lifted a nifty backhander by Andre Vasilevskiy to knot things up.
"Nosey, that's all him," said Lazar. "I don't even think he was given an assist on the play, but that subtle stick lift just kind of opened things up. For myself, I thought the puck was finding me tonight. Instead of just shooting it I thought I'd try and make a move. I love my backhand - I don't know if that's something you guys know or not. But that's kind of my go-to shot so I was kind of glad to see that one go in."
The tally marked Lazar's first goal of the season, which the 26-year-old admitted helped relieve a little bit of pressure.
"It's big. As much as you say you don't think about it, especially in the role I play, I want to help out on the scoreboard the best I can," said Lazar. "Obviously that's not my main priority. Even from that moment on you feel a little bit stronger on the puck. You're lighter on your skates, and you're just feeling good about yourself. So, I'm looking forward to continuing that momentum in my game and make an impact for the guys."

Shoring Things Up:Even without McAvoy and Zboril on the back end, the Bruins defense corps - which included Jack Ahcan making his season debut - acquitted itself quite well as Tampa's high-power offensive attack managed just 25 shots on goal.
"I thought they all showed up and competed tonight. All of them," said Sacco. "I was just talking with [assistant coach] Kevin Dean, and he said the same thing. He said that he was proud of the guys on the back end. Jack did a good job tonight when he was called upon. He played hard. Like we talked about this morning, we wanted him to move the puck, transition it, hopefully be able to make some plays at the blue line, but again, be responsible defensively, and he did that."