TAMPA
Scott Laughton Jersey , Fla. (AP) Tuukka Rask and the stubborn Boston Bruins stymied the Tampa Bay Lightning – and got even closer in the
standings.Rask stopped 23 shots to hand Tampa Bay its first shutout of the
season and lifted the Bruins over the Lightning 3-0 on Saturday night.It was
Rask’s third shutout of the season and 41st of his career. It was also the first
time the Lightning failed to score a goal since a 4-0 loss at Boston on April 4,
2017 – also against Rask.”It’s playoff hockey,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said,
”and I thought we were better at it than they were tonight.”David Pastrnak,
David Backes and Riley Nash all scored for Boston, which moved within two points
of the Lightning for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with one game in
hand. Torey Krug assisted on all three of the Bruins’ goals.But the Bruins hope
the win didn’t come at a high cost.The Bruins played the final two periods
without Backes, who left following a scary incident late in the first period. As
Backes tumbled to the ice and fell into the crease area, the back of Yanni
Gourde’s skate appeared to make contact just below Backes’ right knee. Backes
immediately grabbed his leg. As he was making his way to the Boston bench, blood
appeared to seep through his pants as he was rushed back to the locker room.The
Bruins reported that Backes was resting after suffering a laceration on his knee
that required approximately 18 stitches to close. Cassidy reported there was no
structural damage.”I think the concern is probably when you have those deep cuts
is infection, so that’s usually a couple of days to see how it heals up,”
Cassidy said. ”I don’t want to say he dodged a bullet because it’s an
unfortunate accident, but it looks like he’ll be OK.”Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped
24 shots for the Lightning, whose last shutout at home came on March 16, 2017,
by Toronto’s Frederik Andersen. Tampa Bay has lost consecutive games for the
first time since going 9-0-1 in the previous 10 games.”Now is the time when you
really have to look yourself in the mirror and really push yourself and hammer
down on the details,” Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. ”We have to step
up
Womens Sean Couturier Jersey , we have to work. That was a good test. We got outplayed and now we have to raise the bar.”Pastrnak opened the scoring with
his 28th goal of the season, getting a step ahead of Mikhail Sergachev coming
down the slot to take a pass from Krug and slip a backhander past Vasilevskiy
3:07 in to the game.Backes scored his 12th off a rebound in front for the first
of two Boston power-play goals on the night.Nash increased the lead to 3-0 in
the second period with his 14th of the season.”We’ve been talking about trying
to get back to our identity and playing solid defense and finding our offense
through that,” Rask said. ”Today we shut it down, came back hard and played
solid, solid defense and scored three goals.”NOTES: Tampa Bay recalled G Louis
Domingue from Syracuse of the American Hockey League before the game and he
dressed as the backup. … Boston improved to 32-0-3 this season when holding a
two-goal lead at any point in the game. … The Lightning have allowed five
power-play goals in the past three games and at least one power-play goal in 11
of the past 12. … Boston D Zdeno Chara missed his second consecutive game with
an unspecified upper-body injury.UP NEXT:Lightning: Host Edmonton Oilers on
Sunday.Bruins: Host Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) The
Washington Capitals needed a lucky bounce to finally get an overtime win in Game
3 in their intense first-round playoff series with the Columbus Blue
Jackets.Lars Eller got the last stick on a puck that bounced off him and
Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski before rolling past Sergei Bobrovsky, and
Washington got the 3-2 victory nine minutes into the second overtime Tuesday
night.The Capitals won at Nationwide Arena after Columbus won the first two
games – both in overtime – in Washington. It was the Capitals’ turn to prevail
in OT, this time on the Blue Jackets’ home ice, to pull to 2-1 in the
best-of-seven series.”It means a ton, a win like this after playing for that
long,” Eller said. ”I’m sure they feel a lot more tired in that room than we are
feeling right now. It gives you a lot of energy. It’s going to be a battle again
in Game 4.”Tom Wilson and John Carlson also scored, and Braden Holtby stopped 33
shots for the Capitals, who were in danger of falling into a nearly
insurmountable hole had they let the game slip away.”We got some good fortune,
but we also executed and we were committed today,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz
said.Game 4 is Thursday night back here with Game 5 set for Washington on
Saturday.”We got a break, it’s what we needed
Shayne Gostisbehere Jersey ,” Capitals forward John Connolly said. ”You need breaks, every team is so good now, you need to keep pressing and pressing.
”Pierre-Luc Dubois and Artemi Panarin scored for Columbus, and Bobrovsky
finished with 42 saves after getting 54 in the Game 2 on Sunday.Panarin knotted
the score 4:12 into the third period after he and Cam Atkinson went back and
forth with pinpoint passes before he swiped it past Holtby from the left
circle.That’s the way it stayed until the second overtime.After a scoreless
first period, Wilson got credit for the first Washington goal when he deflected
Matt Niskanen’s rising shot 5:52 into the second. The Blue Jackets got a break
two minutes later when a goal by Connolly was waved off after a video replay
showed he was offside bringing the puck down the ice.Dubois tied it with 8:42
left in the second when he rifled a shot past Holtby’s glove from the right
circle.Later in the period, with Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Murray both
in the penalty box for slashing, Carlson connected with 5:17 left on a one-timer
28 seconds into the 5-on-3.After feasting on the power play in the first two
games, the Blue Jackets failed to score on four tries with a man advantage. The
Capitals whiffed on three of their four power plays.”It’s a hell of a series,”
Columbus coach John Tortorella said.NOTES: The Capitals have outshot the Blue
Jackets 133-92 through the first three games. … Washington F Jakub Vrana played
in place of Andre Burakovsky, who is out at least through Thursday’s game with
an upper-body injury suffered when he was checked into the boards by Blue
Jackets F Boone Jenner on Sunday. Vrana was a healthy scratch for that game. …
Blue Jackets F Alexander Wennberg missed a second game after being injured in
Game 1. Sonny Milano again played in his place. … The announced crowd of 19,337
was the largest ever for a Blue Jackets game. … Washington star Alex Ovechkin
appeared in his 100th career playoff game. … Panarin, who had an assist on
Dubois’ goal, has eight straight multi-point games. … It was the 22nd time in
NHL history that a playoff series went to overtime in at least three consecutive
games.—Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy
