The Boston Bruins gave up the first goal in Game 3 of their second round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night, and it didn't take long for the Bolts to double their advantage.
After scoring on a first period power play, the Lightning added another tally just 15 seconds later, and there was plenty of frustration from the Bruins. Not only had they fallen into an early 2-0 hole, the second Lightning goal probably wouldn't have happened if linesman Devin Berg had been able to evade Bruins defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.
Berg was along the boards when Lightning forward Yanni Gourde was racing toward him. The linesman managed to get out of Gourde's way, but in doing that he collided with Lauzon, thus taking the B's defenseman out of the play. As a result, Gourde had a free breakaway and beat Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak for the goal.
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Check out the sequence in the video below:
The call on Nick Ritchie's slashing penalty earlier in the period that led to the Lightning's power play goal also was pretty soft. It's hard enough to beat a very talented team like the Lightning without these kinds of calls/mishaps, so it's easy to understand Boston's frustration.
The series was even at one win apiece entering Wednesday's pivotal Game 3.