Defenseman Emil Lilleberg scored a rebound goal with 1:35 left in regulation, leading the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon.
Moments after the Bruins were unable to clear a puck out of their own zone, Lilleberg buried the rebound of a Jake Guentzel shot to lead Tampa Bay (49-25-6, 104 points) to the win.
The Lightning snapped a three-game losing streak and denied Boston (43-27-10, 96 points) the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot.
Brandon Hagel also scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the Lightning, who trailed 1-0 into the third period and registered their 23rd come-from-behind win this season.
Morgan Geekie scored Boston’s lone goal, his fourth in the past two games.
Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves in net for the Bruins, who are 0-3-2 in their last five games.
Charlie McAvoy set up Geekie’s goal, becoming the first Bruins defenseman since Hall of Famer Ray Bourque in 1995-96 to record 50 assists in a single season.
The Bruins went on their first power play of the game after a Hagel interference call with 33.6 seconds left but could not score on the 6-on-4 advantage.
Tampa Bay finished with a 24-20 edge in shots.
The teams combined for just nine shots on goal in a low-event first period. Swayman robbed the best opportunity of the frame from a wide-open Gage Goncalves in the final minutes, closing his pads on the puck on the doorstep.
Geekie broke the long scoreless deadlock 10:47 into the middle frame, taking McAvoy’s stretch feed from the defensive zone down the slot for a top-shelf breakaway goal.
The visitors drew even with 13:23 left in regulation, as Goncalves sent Hagel past two oncoming defenders and snuck a five-hole shot on Swayman.
Among a slew of absences from the Tampa Bay lineup, forward Zemgus Girgensons and defenseman Darren Raddysh both had undisclosed injuries. Raddysh scored the game-winning goal in last Saturday’s meeting with Boston.
–Field Level Media
