In a physical, emotional game at TD Garden, the Bruins jumped past the Lighting into the top spot in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
BOSTON -- They’ve been as hard to beat as any team in the NHL since key players began to heal and young players began to contribute at the beginning of December.
Now, they’re in first place.
“It’s a big win for us,” David Pastrnak said after one of the most unexpected games of his four-year NHL career. “Finally, we jumped them after a whole season chasing them.”
The Bruins climbed into the top spot in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference on Thursday night at TD Garden, taking both positions away from the Lightning with a 4-2 victory. It was a game that saw players like Pastrnak (32nd goal, plus one assist) and Tuukka Rask (26 saves) do what they usually do, and what they never do: Pastrnak initiated the first fight he can ever remember, and Rask took four minutes in roughing penalties in the second period, for swinging both gloves at Lightning forward Cory Conacher.
“It was an emotional game,” Rask said. “I got into it.
“Two good hockey teams, battling for points. It was a playoff game. It was fun.”
The Bruins, moved one point ahead of the Lightning and still have a game in hand, in large part because they hold a 3-0-0 record in this season’s series. Completing a sweep when the teams meet again on Tuesday night in Tampa would go a long way toward clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs.
“Now we’re in a really good spot,” said veteran forward David Backes, who came back after missing five games with a leg laceration. “We’re going to keep taking care of our destiny the way we can control it going forward.”
The Bruins, still playing without defensemen Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy and rookie winger Jake DeBrusk, actually made things a little difficult on themselves on Thursday night, after a strong first period marked by last-minute goals from Tim Schaller (19:02) and Pastrnak (19:34) gave them a 2-0 lead. They were killing penalties from beginning (Brian Gionta, boarding at 1:18) to end (Adam McQuaid, hooking, 16:10), saw their lead trimmed to 2-1 on J.T. Miller’s power-play goal, and nearly lost momentum after getting outshot, 11-3.
“Lots of urgency in the first period,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Got ourselves into a bit of trouble in the second. … I just thought we were a determined group, in the third, to play the right way.”
It was still 2-1 when Pastrnak, seeing linemate Patrice Bergeron on the ice at center ice and Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi leaving the scene of the incident, chased and then challenged the veteran blue-liner. As fights go, there wasn’t much to it -- Pastrnak missed with his punch, and ducked Girardi’s blow before both ended up on the ice -- but it showed how far the B’s were willing to go to stand up for themselves, and also move up in the standings.
“I don’t think I’ve fought ever -- like, ever,” said Pastrnak, who completed his Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist, fight) with an assist on Brad Marchand’s game-sealing empty-net goal in the final minute.
“It was fun. I think it was perfect timing -- (close) game, playing for first place.”
Another battle actually set the B’s up for the decisive goal. Backes, who ended up in a tangle directly in front of the Lightning bench with 9:47 left in regulation, took Cedric Paquette to the penalty box with him, leaving the sides 4-on-4. The Bruins exploited the situation, making it 3-1 when Bergeron finished a dazzling passing sequence with Marchand and Torey Krug (two assists).
“It was a little tumultuous, but it’s also pretty exciting,” Backes said. “There were plenty of willing combatants that were stepping up for each other, sticking together.
“When a team sticks together like that, it feels like there are eight guys on the ice instead of five, and that’s a good feeling to have.”