BOSTON — Anthony Cirelli scored twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning held Boston without a shot in the second period in a 6-2 victory over the Bruins on Saturday night.
Nick Paul, Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh added goals to help Tampa Bay snap a three-game skid. Cirelli and Ben Hagel had empty-netters.
Elias Lindholm and Marat Khusnutdinov scored for the Bruins. They are 2-2 since trading three longtime cornerstone players — including captain Brad Marchand — at the deadline.
Paul’s goal off a rebound from the left edge of the crease made it 2-1 at 2:13 of the second period. Cirelli added to the lead at 7:22, and Raddysh scored late in the period.
Coming off a shootout loss at Philadelphia, the Lightning jumped ahead on Hedman’s goal on the second rebound out of a scramble early in the game.
Later in the first, Lindholm’s one-timed a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy off a nifty feed from Andrew Peeke.
The teams faced each other for the second time in eight days. Boston won at Tampa Bay in its first game after the trades.
Takeaways
Lightning: Despite scuffling lately following an outstanding February when they went 7-0-1, they’re still in position to make a run at one of the Atlantic Division’s top two seeds.
Bruins: They move closer to being eliminated from postseason play for the first time since 2016 as they sit outside a crowded wild-card chase.
Key moment
With Tampa Bay leading 2-1 seconds after a power-play expired, Cirelli, positioned in the slot, tipped Ryan McDonagh’s shot past Jeremy Swayman.
Key stat
Boston was outshot 20-0 in the second. It was the Bruins’ second period this season without a shot on goal. Before that, they hadn’t had a period without one since 2007. The Bruins finished with 12 shots.
Up next
Both teams play Monday night. The Lightning host Philadelphia, and the Bruins host Buffalo.
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