Lightning recover to defeat Bruins in shootout in Marchand’s 1,000th game

BOSTON -- Brad Marchand had two assists in his 1,000th NHL game, but the Boston Bruins lost 3-2 in a shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden on Tuesday.

The Bruins captain is the eighth player to reach 1,000 games with Boston. He has 912 career points (397 goals, 513 assists), fifth-most in franchise history. 

“I know how fortunate I am to be part of this organization and one organization your whole career, well at least up to this point,” Marchand said. “That’s part of what I love so much about being here, is how much the fans care, how much they embrace the team. It truly is special and it flies by, and you really have to enjoy every day and make the most of every moment.”

Brayden Point scored the lone goal in the shootout for the Lightning, forcing the puck in off Linus Ullmark. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all three attempts from Jake DeBrusk, Charlie Coyle and David Pastrnak.

“I went with a deke, and [Ullmark] makes a good save on it. It’s kind of unfortunate, fortunate for me, that he kind of banks it in his own net,” Point said.

Nikita Kucherov scored, and Vasilevskiy made 36 saves for Tampa Bay (29-20-5), which has won 10 of its past 13 games (10-3-0). Erik Cernak scored his first goal of the season.

The Lightning were 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, including 3-for-3 in the third period.

“The guys dug in, but it was tough in the third,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We took three minors, and so we just couldn’t really get anything going, but you got to tip your hat to the penalty kill. They were huge for us, and then 'The Big Cat' (Vasilevskiy) was ‘The Big Cat.’ He saved our skin a couple times, especially in overtime there.”

Pastrnak also had two assists, and Ullmark made 23 saves for Boston (32-11-10), which is 1-2-1 in its past four games. Charlie McAvoy and James van Riemsdyk scored.

“I think we were much better, to our standard,” Pastrnak said. “Playing the way we know we can, so definitely some positives to take [away]. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the [win], and that’s the way it goes sometimes. But I think as a team [it was] a pretty good game.”

Cernak gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 3:21 of the first period with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that slipped through Ullmark’s pads and just crossed over the goal line.

Kucherov made it 2-0 at 1:06 of the second period on the power play, burying a one-timer from a tight angle below the right circle.

“They scored that second goal, we still felt like we were going to be able to come back in this game, and we did,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Sometimes you lose games in this League and you feel like you deserve better, and that’s going to happen. I was proud of our effort. Our power play needs to come through for us there. Can’t go 0-for-6. That’s an area that we have to look at right now.”

McAvoy cut it to 2-1 at 2:04, beating Vasilevskiy with a one-timer through traffic from the right point.

Van Riemsdyk tied it 2-2 at 16:23 of the second during a delayed penalty, poking in the rebound of Marchand’s shot from the right circle. 

“I think we worked hard and we battled hard,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. “We knew they were going to push after last game (Boston lost 3-0 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday). A special game, too, so we knew they were going to give us their best, and we were able to withstand them and come away with two points.”

NOTES: Lightning forward Brandon Hagel had an assist on Cernak’s goal to extend his point streak to a career-high seven games (six goals, five assists). … Kucherov has 90 points (34 goals, 56 assists) in 53 games this season, the fewest needed in Lightning history to reach the mark. Only Connor McDavid (twice), Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux (twice), Jaromir Jagr and Wayne Gretzky have reached 90 points in fewer than 55 games in the past 30 years.