Bruins score six in Game 1 win against Lightning

TAMPA -- Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak each had four points for the Boston Bruins in a 6-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
Marchand (one goal, three assists) and Pastrnak (four assists) combined with linemate Patrice Bergeron (two goals, one assist) for 11 points.

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"It's fun. We're having fun," Bergeron said. "We wanted to play a little bit simple at the beginning and put more pucks deep. We are good when we are fast on the forecheck and getting pucks back, so we just need to keep playing like that."
Rick Nash scored twice, and Tuukka Rask made 34 saves for Boston.
"It was a tight game, especially early on," Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara said. "I think we handled it well. We made some strong defensive plays and obviously, I think Tuukka made some really big saves for us at a crucial time in the game."
Dan Girardi and Mikhail Sergachev scored for Tampa Bay, which lost at home for the first time in four games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is here Monday.
Nash gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead on the power play at 17:11 of the first period.
"I was just going to the net and goalies are so good now you have to take their eyes away, you have to get traffic," Nash said. "I think it tipped off something before it hit my stick. But it was a nice shot from [Pastrnak] to get through the lane."
Bergeron made it 2-0 on a one-timer 42 seconds into the second period. Girardi cut it to 2-1 at 2:31 with a snap shot from the right point.
Nash scored to make it 3-1 at 12:33, taking a drop pass from David Krejci and beating Vasilevskiy blocker side from the top of the right face-off circle.

Sergachev made it 3-2 on the power play at 13:22 after Rask lost the blade on his skate during play. There is no rule for referees to stop play for a broken piece of equipment, regardless of whether the equipment belongs to a goaltender or a skater. The lone exception is when referees may stop play after a goaltender has lost his helmet (Rule 9.6).
"Can't make a save, so you're scrambling in there and then emotions run high," Rask said. "I was just trying to get it fixed and get back in there, keep up the play."
Marchand scored on a redirection in front to make it 4-2 at 3:32 of the third period.
"We just got a couple of plays that bounced our way," Marchand said. "… So sometimes it bounces your way, sometimes it doesn't. We got a couple lucky ones today."
Bergeron extended the lead to 5-2 at 10:11. Pastrnak, who had an assist on the goal, has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in eight playoff games to lead the NHL.

"For all the battle level we had in the offensive zone, if we turn that into the defensive zone for some of those plays, maybe they don't go in," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I think that was frustrating for the guys, spending the amount of time they did in the offensive zone, not being rewarded, and the Bruins were rewarded for just coming down and making a play."
Jake DeBrusk scored an empty-net goal at 13:41 to make it 6-2.
"Besides the score, I thought we played pretty well to be honest," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "We had a ton of chances, their goalie made a ton of saves. I think the difference was they capitalized on their chances, especially that big line."

Goal of the game

Nash's goal at 12:33 of the second period.

Save of the game

Rask's save on Ondrej Palat at 19:10 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Bergeron's goal 42 seconds into the second period.

They said it

"You need your best players to be your best players, and clearly that happened tonight for us." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"I think we lost 6-2, so it doesn't matter how we feel about how we played. We're going to wake up in the morning, somebody is going to look at the score and say Tampa is down 1-0. Is there stuff we can build off this game? No question. But they got six and in the end, we have to raise the level of our game to get back in this series." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

Pastrnak's 17 points are the second most in Bruins history through the first eight playoff games. Rick Middleton had 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 1983. ... Lightning forward Brayden Point was minus-5. ... Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman's assist on Girardi's goal was his first point of the postseason. ... Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy had two assists.

What's next

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Amalie Arena on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS)