In a playoff-style atmosphere at AMALIE Arena, the Bolts and B's played a tight-checking game throughout the night, featuring back-and forth action and terrific goaltending on both ends of the ice.
After Tampa Bay earned a power play near the halfway point of the first period, Brandon Hagel took a pass from Nikita Kucherov in the low slot before shifting the puck to his forehand and roofing a shot over the blocker of Linus Ullmark to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
With the primary assist, Kucherov collected his 50th helper of the season in just his 47th game. He became the 12th skater in NHL history to reach 50 assists in 47 games or fewer multiple times, joining Gretzky (14x), Lemieux (9x), Orr (5x), Savard (4x), Coffey (3x), Oates (3x), Trottier (2x), Jagr (2x), Kurri (2x), Forsberg (2x) & Stastny (2x).
Kucherov's impact on the big divisional game didn't end with that one assist. Entering the third period tied at one, the Bolts were looking to regain the lead and did so just 58 seconds into the final frame.
With a faceoff in the Bruins defensive zone to the right of Ullmark, Steven Stamkos won the draw cleanly back to Kucherov, who wired a wrist shot on goal that deflected off the skate of Brayden Point and into the net to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.
For Point, it was his team-leading 28th goal of the season and 12th in his last 16 games. As for Stamkos, his faceoff win and secondary assist extended his point streak to 10 games. He joined Connor McDavid as the only two players in the NHL to record multiple point streaks of 10 or more games this season.
Boston responded quickly with a goal from Pavel Zacha to tie the game at two 1:26 after Point's goal, making for an intense 17-plus minutes to wrap up regulation. And with the game in the balance, the Lightning's top players showed up again, with Hedman scoring the game-winning goal at the 13:19 mark of the third.
As Point flew through the neutral zone, he sped into the Boston end and sent a pass through the crease that just missed Stamkos. But Point's elite speed caused Brandon Carlo to blow a tire and slide into Ullmark, knocking the goalie to the ice. As Point's pass rimmed around the boards, Hedman pinched in from the point and hammered a slap shot into the net for his third goal of the year.
"It was about time," Hedman said. "It was about time."
The Big Swede has been excellent in his own end all season long, and while the goal scoring may not be where he's wanted it to be, he's been consistently racking up points over the past several weeks. Since December 1, his 20 assists are the fifth-most among all NHL defensemen.