TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos usually sparks the Tampa Bay Lightning with his scoring, but a rare fight and five-minute penalty in the first period Sunday motivated his teammates to score twice in 15 seconds on the way to 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins at Amalie Arena.
The win was Tampa Bay’s first against Boston since 2012 after going 0-8-2 in its last 10 meetings.
The Lightning (45-21-7) continue to pile up points and push Montreal for the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings, while Boston (36-25-12) is clinging a one-point lead on Ottawa for the second and final wild card in the East and has a five-game winless streak.
Lightning goalie Ben Bishop, a former University of Maine standout, gave up a goal in the opening minute, then held the Bruins in check, with 24 saves as he improved to 36-11-4 on the season.
Boston cut the Tampa Bay lead to 4-2 on a power-play goal with 9:38 left from defenseman Zdeno Chara, his eighth goal of the season. Tampa Bay answered with its own power-play goal, making it 5-2 on left wing Ondrej Palat, his 18th of the season. Boston added a goal with 47 seconds left by left wing Daniel Paille — his sixth of the season — to cut the lead to 5-3.
Stamkos received a five-minute major penalty after trading blows with Brad Marchand at 10:05. Within a minute, Tampa Bay scored twice — goals just 15 seconds apart — for a 3-1 lead.
The first goal came when right winger J.T. Brown skated between two Bruins defenders and beat goalie Tuukka Rask for his third goal of the season. Moments later, defenseman Anton Stralman scored for the second straight game, his eighth of the season giving Tampa Bay a two-goal advantage with its captain and leading scorer still in the box.
Tampa Bay’s offense-from-defense trend continued in the second period, as defenseman Jason Garrison scored on an assist from center Tyler Johnson for the 4-1 lead.
Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 33 seconds in. Center Patrice Bergeron scored his 21st goal, beating goalie Ben Bishop off assists from left winger Marchand and defenseman Adam McQuaid.
Tampa Bay answered in a big way. Center Vladislav Namestnikov tied the game 5:49 into the first, getting his sixth goal of the season with assists from left winger Brenden Morrow and Brown.
On Saturday, the Bruins suffered a 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida.
Brandon Pirri scored the lone goal of the shootout in the second round as host Florida halted its nine-game losing streak at the hands of Boston and moved closer to a playoff slot.
Pirri sent a forehand shot between the pads of Tuukka Rask before Roberto Luongo capped a 26-save performance by denying rookie Ryan Spooner’s backhand attempt to draw the Panthers within four points of the Bruins for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Jimmy Hayes scored in regulation as Florida beat Boston for the first time since March 15, 2012.
Patrice Bergeron netted a power-play goal for the slumping Bruins. Rask finished with 24 saves as his 10-game winning streak against the Panthers was halted.
Soon after a faceoff, Dave Bolland gained control of the puck near the end boards and sent a behind-the-back pass to Hayes, who stuffed it home from the doorstep at 14:41 of the opening period. Boston had to kill off 1:13 of a penalty to begin the second period before converting on a power play of its own.
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton sent a pass from the left point to Spooner in the right faceoff circle, and the rookie found Bergeron alone in the slot for a shot that beat Luongo at the 2:52 mark. Rask robbed Bolland on the doorstep late in the third and stoned Hayes on a 2-on-1 rush in overtime to preserve the tie.