The Bruins can even the series 2-2 with a win in Game 4.
The one consistency the Boston Bruins had going throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs had been their penalty kill. The PK had been the Bruins’ most reliable component, even when other aspects of their game were breaking down during the disastrous 0-3 start in the round-robin phase of the post-season. The penalty kill was the Bruins’ most notable failure in their devastating 7-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of the best of seven series on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The Bruins will engage the Bolts in Game 4 on Friday night at 7:30. The Lightning’s power play was 2-for-20 going into Game 3, an incredibly low success rate (10%) for a team with snipers across four lines. Tampa Bay broke out of its power play slump by going 3-for-6 against the Bruins. The Bolts more than doubled their power play output in the opening 28:35 minutes of the game. Whether the Lightning’s power play was a sleeping giant or the Bruins penalty kill was on borrowed time is yet to be determined. But Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said the PK has become an area of concern where none existed. “At the end of the day we gave up too much five-on-five and on the PK,” said Cassidy during a Zoom conference. “Took too many penalties which is uncharacteristic of us (but) it happens and they took advantage of that. “We’ll look at it and certainly do some things better the next game. Our penalty kill has been good all year, been good in the playoffs.
