Bruins vs Lightning game 5 summary

Boston Bruins center Brad Marchand and fans celebrate his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Eastern Conference finals, in Boston on Monday, May 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Tonight's Game 5 looked similar to Game 4 where one team dominated the first period and then the other team came back in the next two periods, but the teams were reversed this time. Tonight the Lightning dominated the first period, scoring a goal only 1:09 into the game getting the 1-0 lead and looked better than the Bruins. Tim Thomas made some good saves to make sure it was only a 1-0 deficit. Mike Smith started the game for the Lightning in goal and played well.

The Bruins came back strong in the second period scoring twice. Nathan Horton scored his 7th goal of the playoffs on a one-timer, after receivig a beautiful backhand pass from Milan Lucic. Later in the period, Brad Marchand made up for his lack of hustle in the first period and a penalty by scoring the go-ahead goal, his 6th goal of the playoffs.

In the third period, the Lightning came out strong and had chances to tie the game but Thomas was great making save after save. Thomas also made the save of the year by robbing Steve Downie with his stick as he dived backwards to block a Downie shot after a shot went wide off the end boards and back out in front. Watch it below.

Rich Peverley would add an empty net goal, his 2nd goal of the playoffs, to put the game away 3-1 for the Bruins.

Tim Thomas made 33 saves on 34 shots. Thomas is now 11-5 with a 2.27 GAA and a .931 save percentage.

The Lightning led the game in shots 34-19. The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 41-30 and hits 25-18.

Notes from the game
Johnny Boychuk was hit by Steve Downie behind the Bruins net and Boychuk's head smacked against the glass from the impact. Downie did not make contact with Boychuk's head as it was a clean hit but it was late. Downie got called for a 2-minute boarding penalty. Boychuk went off the ice slowly as he tried to shake it off. He did not return to the game. Hopefully Boychuk is ok and can play the next game.

Nathan Horton took two bad interference penalties during the game. He needs to control himself more in the playoffs but I do like his tenacity. He led the Bruins in hits tonight with 4.

Brad Marchand had a tough first period as he got laid out by Matthias Ohlund from a big hit and made some mistakes. He played better though in the second and third periods.

Onto the next one
Game 6 is on Wednesday at 8pm ET in Tampa Bay. I think the Lightning will go with veteran Dwayne Roloson in Game 6. I have a feeling that this series will go to a game 7 just like the Montreal series.

The Bruins need 5 more wins to bring the Cup to Boston.