National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, April 11, 2015
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Chris Lee, Steve Kozari
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Steve Miller
Attendance: 19204

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Boston Bruins tied the game with 1:06 left in regulation, but the Tampa Bay Lightning won in a shootout, getting their 50th win to finish the season with a 3-2 win Saturday at Amalie Arena.

Lightning goalie Ben Bishop stopped all three shots in overtime and 36 overall, and defenseman Victor Hedman scored on Tampa Bay's second shootout shot.

Just seconds after Boston pulled its goalie with 1:25 left, left winger Brad Marchand scored his 24th goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 with 1:06 left in regulation.

The teams played a scoreless five-minute overtime, with Hedman just missing a goal in the final five seconds.

The Lightning missed out on an Atlantic Division title when the Montreal Canadiens went to overtime in their final game, and Boston was eliminated when Pittsburgh won to clinch the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay (50-24-8) has home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs and will face the Detroit Red Wings, who won Saturday to jump ahead of Ottawa for the third seed in the Atlantic.

Boston (41-27-14) was eliminated from the Eastern Conference's last wild card midway through the third period when Pittsburgh won to clinch the final playoff spot. Minutes later, Tampa Bay locked up the second seed in the East when Montreal went to overtime, scoring the point it needed to clinch the Atlantic Division title.

The teams played to a 1-1 tie after two periods, with both goals coming in a span of 52 seconds in the second period.

Lightning rookie center Jonathan Marchessault, called up from the AHL's Syracuse Crunch before the game, got his first NHL goal with 14:52 left in the second. Marchessault had played just three previous NHL games, including one with Tampa Bay in October, and had led the Crunch in scoring this season.

The excitement of Marchessault's goal was short-lived, as Boston left wing Loui Eriksson scored his 22nd goal on a rebound.

The teams continued their trend of physical hockey this season. In the first period, Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid went high on Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov, knocking him out of the game and drawing a two-minute penalty for an illegal check to the head. It was the Lightning's only power play in the first two periods.

Tampa Bay took the lead with 14:49 left in the third, getting a goal from rookie defenseman Nikita Nesterov, his third of the season. Nesterov scored on a long shot with assists from defenseman Matthew Carle and Marchessault.

NOTES: The Lightning recalled rookie forward Jonathan Marchessault from the AHL's Syracuse Crunch, where he had a team-best 41 assists and 64 points this season. Marchessault, 24, played one game for Tampa Bay in October, but Saturday was just his fourth NHL game. ... Tampa Bay had rookie LW Jonathan Drouin out with illness and D Jason Garrison and D Andrej Sustr both missing their sixth game with upper-body injuries. C Alex Killorn missed a third game with an undisclosed injury. ... Boston had D Dougie Hamilton out with an undisclosed injury and C Gregory Campbell and LW Daniel Paille as healthy scratches.
Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Tampa Bay
Loui Eriksson 1 Points Nikita Kucherov 1
Loui Eriksson 1 Goals Nikita Kucherov 1
Chris Kelly 1 Assists Matt Carle 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Tuukka Rask .920 Save Percentage Ben Bishop .947
Tuukka Rask 23 Saves Ben Bishop 36
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Boston 38 2 0-3 1-1 4 33
Tampa Bay 25 3 0-1 3-3 8 23
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Detroit. The Lightning have a W/L % of .560 after a win and .688 after a loss.