In a surprising turn of events, the Tampa Bay Lightning have jumped out to an early lead over the Northeast Division leading Boston Bruins. The Lightning wasted no time putting pressure on Bruins goalkeeper Marty Turco, scoring three times on six shots against him within the first five minutes of play. After that, the Bruins pulled Turco and put in Tim Thomas in his place, and the Bruins were able to hold the Lightning to only one more goal over the remainder of the period.
As if this lead wasn’t improbable enough, the Lightning have managed to score all four of their goals without the input of their top line. Steven Stamkos and Mart St. Louis were not on the ice for any of the goals scored, and instead the Bolts’ later lines have picked up the slack. In particular, Victor Hedman is having an impressive night, scoring his fourth goal of the season and racking up an assist as well.
The Bruins have only managed to put two shots on goal, and rookie Dustin Tokarski has been perfect thus far. We’ll see if that trend continues as the game goes along.
For more on the Tampa Bay Lightning, check out SB Nation’s blog on the Bolts, Raw Charge.
