The Tampa Bay Lightning got three quick goals from Sean Bergenheim, Brett Clark, and Teddy Purcell in the first period and were not seriously threatened by the Boston Bruins in a 5-2 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. Marc-Andre Bergeron scored an insurance goal in the third period on a power play, while Simon Gagne hit an empty net to seal the game.
The Lightning set a team record with their sixth straight road playoff win, and tied their record of eight straight playoff wins, set during their 2004 Stanley Cup season. Coincidentally, the eight straight wins were exactly the same both times — the last three games of the first round, a four-game sweep in the second round, and then Game 1 of the conference finals.
Dwayne Roloson made 30 saves, but only faced a handful of quality scoring chances by the Bruins. The Lightning’s defense blocked shots all over the ice, deflected passes and shots, and worked together to keep Boston away from the net. Only Tyler Seguin’s highlight-reel goal in the first period and Johnny Boychuk’s garbage-time goal (which bounced in off Bergeron’s skate) slipped past the Lightning goaltender.
Tim Thomas made 29 saves for the Bruins and may have kept the final score from being even worse. He made several outstanding saves throughout the game, including a breakaway by Vincent Lecavalier in the first period. He also turned away scoring attempts from Steve Downie and Gagne when both players slipped behind the defense for an open shot from close range.
The Lightning lead the best-of-seven series 1-0 and will look to bring a 2-0 series lead back to Tampa in Tuesday night’s Game 2.