BOSTON — Obviously
Eric Sogard Jersey , the Boston Bruins, having won the opener of the second-round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning, were greedy and wanted to also
win Game 2 and come home in command of the series.
But the Lightning, clearly having shaken the rust of their layoff before Game 1, had other ideas, evening the series.
Still
Aaron Hicks Jersey , the Bruins left Tampa having captured the home-ice advantage they lost by playing poorly down the stretch of the regular season to
finish a point behind the Lightning in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern
Conference.
Now, it’s a best of five with three set at TD Garden, the first of those Wednesday night in Game 3 of the conference semifinal.
“It’s 1-1. We’re in the playoffs, you’re not gonna walk through teams,” Brad Marchand said after the Game 2 loss. “We have home-ice advantage now, we’ll go
home. This game’s over
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The Bruins weren’t thrilled with the officiating Monday night, but they also know they have to play better.
The Lightning knew they had to be better than they were in the opener.
“We talked about trying to turn the page, that’s what we had to do,” said Tyler Johnson. “We had to realize that it was only one game. We can come back
and we expect better from ourselves. I thought tonight we had a really good game
as a line. I thought Point and Pally played outstanding, and if we continue to
do that
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They also know they have to be better with the series changing venues.
“I’ve been in that situation before, it’s a hostile environment,” defenseman Victor Hedman said Tuesday. “But these are fun games. This is what you want to
play for and want to go through. We are playing a tough team. It’s a tough
building to play in, but so is ours. So we are ready to play our game, play good
road games and hopefully (get) two wins.”
The officials were roundly criticized for their work in Game 2, none louder than NBCSN’s Jeremy Roenick.
“We hate to harp on the refs sometimes
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the first period. … It’s unacceptable, it’s got to be better, it’s too
inconsistent.”
Said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy: “They impacted the game and that’s where it’s frustrating.”
The Bruins won both home games against Tampa Bay in the season series and have won three straight and four of the last five — and are 17-4-0 over the
Lightning at TD Garden over the last seven years. If you want to stretch it out,
the franchise has just nine wins in 54 games in Boston, including playoffs.
But while Boston was 28-8-5 at home this season
Authentic Nathan Shepherd Jersey , the Lightning were a more-than-respectable 25-13-3 on the road.
While the Bruins went 3-1 at home in defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in Round 1, Tampa Bay was 1-1 in New Jersey and dispatched the
upstart Devils in five.
The Bruins scored 22 goals in their four home games against Toronto.
But this is Tampa Bay.
“You don’t want to feed this team’s transition,” said rookie Charlie McAvoy. “They’re a good transition team. We pride ourselves on that. That first goal for
us was a good transition. Their second goal they had was a quick transition. …
That’s the way the game is going, the best teams can take advantage of
opportunities there like they were able to.”
.
