Lightning Dominate Game Four

First Period

The Lightning started the game with a goal 10 minutes into the game. Ondrej Palat buried the game’s first goal off a sweet pass from Brayden Point. Point carried the puck down below the faceoff circle, then passed the puck under Torey Krug, right onto Palat’s stick. Palat shot the puck right over Jaroslav Halak’s outstretched right hand. 

The Lightning continued to control the play as they created lots of scoring chances. Most of their chances ended with scrums in front of the net, which ended up in the two teams battling each other.

Physical Play

As the physicality began to pick up in the game, the hits started to become bigger and bigger. Nick Ritchie brought the physicality when he stepped up for teammate Karson Kuhlman. Ritchie watched Cedric Paquette put Kuhlman into the boards head first. Ritchie did not like the hit and decided to take the matter into his own hands. He put Paquette into a headlock and started throwing punches as Paquette turtled and went down to the ice instead of fighting Ritchie. 

To continue the physical play, Eric Cernak started a line brawl after the buzzer ended the first period. He targeted David Pastrnak and tried to fight him. Thanks to the replay guy on twitter, you can see Cernak throw Pastrnak against the boards and start throwing punches. All Pastrnak could do was rip Cernak’s helmet off as his teammates failed to rip Cernak off of him. The brawl ended with only one penalty, and that was given to Cernak.

Second Period

The Lightning continued their dominant play as Palat managed to score another goal shortly after the halfway point in the game. Palat received a pass from Anthony Cirelli, Palat took a slapshot that hit Halak’s glove, and then went into the net. The goal gave Tampa a 2-0 lead and a big confidence boost. 

The physical play continued into the second period as the Bruins’ Ritchie got a little too excited about the potential for a big hit. Ritchie made a big hit on Yanni Gourde and earned himself a five-minute major penalty. Gourde had puck possession and then he made a pass up the ice and took a few strides following his pass when Richie hit him into the boards head first. Gourde did not get up right away. He skated off on his own power but he went back to the Tampa Bay dressing room to most likely get checked to see if he had a concussion. Gourde did eventually return to the game.

During the five-minute power play, the Lightning was able to capitalize on the opportunity through a Victor Hedman goal. Hedman took a slap shot that bounced off of the Bruins Par Lindholm and shot straight into the air. While the puck was tumbling through the air, Halak lost sight of the puck, and it flipped over him into the net.

Third Period

The Bruins struggled all game to score on the Lightning’s goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy, but Jake Debrusk was finally able to score for the Bruins. Matt Grzelcyk started the play by making a backhand pass over to Charlie Coyle. Coyle skated below the goal line and then sent a pass over to Debrusk. Debrusk snapped a shot between Vasilevsky’s legs to put the Bruins on the board.  

Conclusion

The Lightning dominated the game and have gained the upper hand in the series. With a commanding 3-1 series lead on the Bruins the Lightning will look to win their fourth game in a row to win the series. The Lightning will bring their physical and fast play to the fifth game and try to wrap the series up.

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