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Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning’s Hagel Burns Bruins in OT

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TAMPA-ST. PETE – Tampa’s Brandon Hagel scored on a breakaway 1:19 into overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning took down the NHL’s top club, topping the visiting Boston Bruins 5-4 on Monday night.

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After winning the overtime face-off and keeping possession the entire three-on-three session, Victor Hedman found Hagel on a breakaway off a line change.

Hagel slipped his ninth goal through the legs of goaltender Jeremy Swayman (41 saves) as the Lightning won for the first time in five overtime games.

Hagel and Steven Stamkos each had a goal and an assist, while Tanner Jeannot, Nicholas Paul and Austin Watson scored to help Tampa Bay improve to 6-2-2 at home and win its third straight game. Goalie Jonas Johansson stopped 23 shots.

David Pastrnak recorded a goal and an assist, and Pavel Zacha and John Beecher each scored for the Bruins, who dropped to 7-1-2 in their past 10 games and are 2-3 in overtime.

To open the second game on their three-game homestand, the Lightning went up 1-0 on a delayed penalty, as Jeannot scored his fourth goal at 6:39.

However, the visitors scored the equalizer off a turnover when Pastrnak skated in and reversed a pass to Zacha, who deposited his seventh goal at 9:55.

During a testy second period that resulted in three of the six minor penalties being for roughing, the Lightning had a five-on-three and four-on-three power play.

But Paul put his club up 2-1 when he deflected in a wide shot from Mikhail Sergachev with 30 seconds remaining in the frame.

Starting the third trailing for just the second time in 17 games, the Bruins evened it 2-all when Pastrnak blistered his 12th goal from way above the left circle at 6:26, then the club quickly took its first lead.

It kept the puck in the offensive zone, and the puck found its way to Beecher, who slipped his second tally by Johansson just 82 seconds after Pastrnak’s goal.

On his first point of the season, Watson flipped in the game-tying goal from the bottom of the right circle less than a minute later.

James van Riemsdyk won a battle behind the Lightning goal and put the puck on Coyle’s stick for his sixth tally at 16:09.

However, Stamkos’ seventh marker tied it with. 4.8 seconds left to send the match to overtime.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Face Slow-Start Lightning

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TAMPA BAY – The Lightning host the Boston Bruins tonight knowing they have finally conquered one of their biggest nemeses this season — the third period. On Saturday afternoon, the Lightning spotted the Edmonton Oilers a 2-0 lead in the first period but rallied back, eventually winning 6-4 to break a three-game home losing streak.

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In the win, coach Jon Cooper’s team beat the dreaded third period, which had been an enormous hurdle to overcome, filled with blown leads that led to regulation and overtime defeats.

The Lightning scored four times in the final frame, including the last three tallies — the equalizer from Steven Stamkos on the power play, the game-winner via Luke Glendening and empty-net insurance from Mikhail Sergachev.

“The season’s still fairly new, but we’ve not been a great third-period team this year,” Cooper said. “So for us to come out and be behind and pull it out and push the way we did, it’s great for our morale.”

Tampa Bay won for the first time in which it trailed entering the third period, improving to 1-5-2 in those instances.

“I think maybe earlier in the year, we might find a way to only get that to overtime or actually lose the game. I just liked the way the guys dug in,” said Cooper, whose group managed to keep high-scoring Edmonton stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl off the scoresheet.

Nikita Kucherov filled his scoresheet with two goals and an assist. It was the 71st time the right wing has produced three points in a match, placing him third in franchise history behind Stamkos (97) and Martin St. Louis (73).

Just as they did last season when they roared through the regular season en route to winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the Bruins are running roughshod from city to city in the NHL — winning 13 times in 16 contests. Boston’s lone regulation loss was 5-4 in Detroit against the improved Red Wings.

A two-game trip to the Sunshine State will provide ample opportunity for the first-place Bruins to see where they stack up against other Atlantic Division powers.

The Lightning and Bruins have met twice in the Stanley Cup conference semifinals since the 2017-18 season. Tampa Bay won the series both times.

The Florida Panthers, Boston’s opponent Wednesday, shocked the Bruins as a No. 8 seed in seven games in last season’s opening playoff round.

Saturday’s 5-2 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens had Boston coach Jim Montgomery in a good mood.

“I thought we played the right way for 60 minutes — the way we want to play,” said Montgomery, whose squad lost 3-2 in overtime in Montreal seven days earlier.

Trent Frederic scored a pair of goals and captain Brad Marchand recorded his 500th career assist, while goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves. Swayman hasn’t lost in regulation yet (7-0-1).

Following morning skate, Montgomery and the team commented about the situation around teammate Milan Lucic, who was arrested Saturday morning after an alleged domestic violence incident.

“It’s tough to see your teammates and your friends going through stuff like this and their family,” Marchand said. “Yeah, definitely worried about Britt and the kids and Luc himself, but they have all the support in the world.

“Anything they need we are going to be here for them.”

–Field Level Media