Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) starts a break up-ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period in Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Eastern Conference final series Thursday, May 19, 2011 in Tampa, Fla. Bergeron was in the lineup for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals after missing two games because of a concussion. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tim Thomas came up huge making save after save and recording his 1st shutout of the playoffs this year to give the Bruins a 2-0 win at Tampa Bay. Thomas made 31 saves in the game and he is now 10-4 with a 2.23 GAA and a .932 save percentage.
In the first period, David Krejci scored his 7th goal of the playoffs off a beautiful no-look pass from Milan Lucic. Later in the period Krejci was layed out with a huge hit by Marc-Andre Bergeron. Krejci got up slowly but he would be ok and play the rest of the game. It looked like a clean hit but Bergeron was called for a 2-minute elbowing penalty.
In the second period, no scoring happened.
In the third period, Andrew Ference scored his 2nd goal of the playoffs to make it 2-0 Bruins. It was a shot from the blue line that went five-hole on a screened Dwayne Roloson and it slowly crossed the goal line to count.
The Lightning led the game in shots 31-25 and hits 22-19. The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 37-28.
Notes from the game
This was a change from the first two games where there was so much scoring. The Bruins looked much better defensively in this one.
David Krejci was also solid in the faceoff circle, going 13-5. After the game, Krejci was asked about the hit.
"I was a little sore, but I feel pretty good."
"I'm fine. I don't think I have to look at it. I'm sure I'm going to see it. The guys told me that the guy just came off the bench. I didn't even see him. They gave me a little heads up, so I got a little ready for it. If they didn't give me a heads up on the bench, then I would get hit and in a relaxed body and it'd be maybe way worse. But I feel fine."
Source
Andrew Ference and Johnny Boychuk were +2.
Tyler Seguin didn't get any points but still had a good game as he was +1 with 3 shots.
Shawn Thornton was a healthy scratch with Bergeron returning to the lineup and Seguin being hot.
Onto the next one
Game 4 is on Saturday at 1:30 PM ET in Tampa Bay. It will be on the NBC broadcast.
The Bruins need 6 more wins to bring the Cup to Boston.
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