Mike Smith (Bridgette Samuels, Wikimedia Commons)
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins are now even at two games apiece in the Eastern Conference Final.
Saturday morning in Tampa, the Lightning knocked off the Bruins 5-3. Simon Gagne scored the game winning goal for Tampa Bay at 6:54 of the third period from Ryan Malone.
Gagne had a goal, two assists, was a +4, with a shot, and a blocked shot in 14:58 of ice time.
Teddy Purcell also scored two goals for Tampa Bay.
The Lightning made a remarkable comeback in this hockey game. Down 3-0 after the first period on three giveaways, the Lightning regrouped nicely. One major reason was Guy Boucher’s decision to replace Dwayne Roloson with Mike Smith. You cannot blame Roloson for any of the three Boston goals, but the bottom line is Smith is clearly hotter than Roloson at the moment. In a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately industry, Smith has made 29 saves on 29 shots in the postseason so far, and that was after he won his final three starts in the regular season–two wins over the Carolina Hurricanes and a 2-0 shutout win in Chicago where he made 31 saves.
Game five is back in Boston Monday night (CBC, 6pm).
Tags: boston bruins, dwayne roloson, guy boucher, mike smith, ryan malone, simon gagne, tampa bay lightning, teddy purcell
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