TORONTO — They are the deepest, the most experienced, the absolute best the Eastern Conference has to offer.
And when the opening bell sounded on this titanic Boston-Tampa series, we came to see what kind of punch the Lightning would throw after being remade in a more black-and-blue image.
Instead we were reminded of a universal hockey truth: The Bruins are exactly who we thought they were.
“There’s no moral victories here, there’s lessons learned,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Boston.
You come at the king, you best not miss.
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Game 1 was tilted in the Bruins’ favour through a series of tiny edges. Then the dagger arrived like a lightning bolt, with Patrice Bergeron lifting Ryan McDonagh’s stick before the defenceman had any idea he was in serious danger.
From there, it was a quick puck touch to David Pastrnak, who put a no-look backhand saucer pass directly on Brad Marchand’s tape in a shooting position with nothing but empty net to fire at.
“That goal was all him,” Marchand said of Bergeron. “His forechecking there, a great read. That’s why he’s going to be a Hall of Famer.”
The entire sequence played out inside two seconds. You might as well put it in the freaking Louvre.
“When our offensive players are doing that, we’re going to be hard to stop because they can finish some plays,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “It’s a second effort league.”
“Obviously, everybody saw it,” added Cooper. “They make big-time plays at high rates of speed, so if you let up for a second they’re going to get ya because they compete really hard and they never give up on plays. And so clearly that’s what happened there.
“We have a recipe for them, but in the end you hope to just control them.”
He was referring to Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak — the so-called “Perfection Line,” which has always felt like an imperfect label because this is a sport where that ideal simply isn’t attainable.
Boston’s top line was anything but perfect to open this second-round series and yet they found a way to be serious difference-makers. That group played uphill for a significant stretch of the game and still had a hand in all three goals: With Marchand gaining the line and holding the puck before Charlie Coyle tipped home a Brandon Carlo point shot, and Pastrnak burying a David Krejci feed on the power play, and ultimately Marchand finishing the gorgeous sequence 1:17 into the third period that lifted the bar a little higher than Tampa’s feverish comeback attempt could reach.
Still, it was a series opener that left you no reason to draw any big conclusions.
Tampa and Boston have each owned a spot in the NHL’s top tier for what feels like a sporting eternity. Across the last three regular seasons, they rank Nos. 1 and 2 in wins and points.
No one has scored more goals than the Lightning during that stretch. No one has allowed fewer than the Bruins.
They could end up playing seven games in 11 nights if this best-of-seven goes the distance and that’s why every decision felt like more of a long-term investment than a win-at-all-costs move for the moment.
Cooper gave his fourth line basically the same 5-on-5 ice time as his second line (7:46-7:37), which meant Patrick Maroon played nearly as much as Tyler Johnson. That trend might not continue when the puck drops Tuesday on Game 2, but after a year where the Lightning set out to toughen up the bottom end of the roster the head coach leaned on his beef.
“They have a bit of a different makeup now. They compete a lot harder, they’re a lot more physical and obviously they have a ton of talent,” said Marchand.
Given how much is at stake, the biggest disappointment for the Lightning was a tepid first period where they managed just 19 total shot attempts. They trailed 1-0 at the intermission, made a strong push through the middle frame and still went down 2-0 because of the special teams edge highlighted by Pastrnak’s power-play goal.
Tampa eventually broke through with two late Victor Hedman replies through traffic — both glanced off Boston defender Charlie McAvoy on their way in — but that didn’t salvage any additional pride.
Nearly a month into the bubble, this is where it really starts to get stressful. The winner of this series will have a path to the Stanley Cup Final and both teams are incredibly invested in the outcome.
We saw the temperature start to rise towards a boil as the Bruins and Lightning found their footing in Game 1 and were reminded that neither is head and shoulders above the other.
“You can’t win with one line. You have to roll all the way through,” said Marchand. “Different heroes every night, different series. That’s why we were a good team last year, that’s why we were dominant all season long. And why we’re here tonight.
“We rely on our group. We always have that next up mentality and that continues.”
It’s a race to four.
And the punches are just starting to fly.
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