The Tampa Bay Lightning have the Boston Bruins on the brink of elimination as they beat the Bruins 3-1 in game four of their seven-game series to take a three games to one lead.
Ondrej Palat had two goals and Victor Hedman added a power-play goal as the top line of Palat, Point, and Kucherov continued to be one of the best in the playoffs.
The top line had two goals and three assists in the win against the Bruins.
The Bruins led by Nick Ritchie continue to want to play the physical game. The Lightning is giving it right back.
Ritchie though has proved to be more of a liability than an asset to this Bruins team. He has continuously put his team in bad situations due to the stupid penalties he has taken.
One of his more egregious hits came on Yanni Gourde late in the second period. Gourde had just passed the puck when he was blind-sided by Ritchie.
Gourde crashed into the boards and sustained what looked like a shoulder injury. There was no penalty called in real-time, but once the play was stopped, the play was reviewed and Ritchie was assessed a five-minute major.
Ritchie should have been given a game misconduct. The league will review it and Ritchie could still be given a suspension.
The Bruins have themselves in a huge hole and would need to win three in a row against the Lightning to win the series.
It certainly could happen but is highly improbable.
You get everybody’s best shot in elimination games,” Cooper said. It will not be an easy win as the Bruins will throw everything they have at the Lightning in game five.
The power play continues to excel as the Lightning were 1/5 in game four and are now 4/11 in the last two games on the power play.
Ryan McDonagh missed his third straight game as the Lightning played again with seven defensemen.
In McDonagh’s absence, Luke Schenn and Braydon Coburn have stepped up and played some big minutes.
With the Lightning in the driver’s seat, they will now look to game five on Monday night to close out the series with the Bruins and move on to the Eastern Conference finals.
Should the Lightning advance, they will play the winner of the New York islanders-Philadelphia Flyers series.
