Bruins defeat Lightning, take over first in Atlantic

BOSTON-- The Boston Bruins took over first place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden on Thursday.

Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for Boston (48-17-11), which passed the Lightning and leads them by one point with one game in hand. The Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference, are 4-0-3 in their past seven games.
"I guess when you look at the importance of the game, they've been in first place pretty much as long as I can remember this year. So that's nice, to pass them," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.
WATCH: [All Lightning vs. Bruins highlights]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for Tampa Bay (51-22-4), which has lost three in a row for the second time this season. The Lightning led the division since Oct. 19.
"I thought we played great in the second and third. I thought we were the better team, whether it was them sitting back on a two-goal lead or us pressuring, I thought we controlled the play," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "It's tough ... against a team like that to go down two and expect to win, they defend so well. Obviously we'd like to be on the other end of it."

Tim Schaller gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 58 seconds left in the first period with a goal off his left skate on a rebound of a Tommy Wingels shot. Wingels forced Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh into a giveaway and Schaller executed a give-and-go with Wingels after getting the loose puck.
David Pastrnak extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal 32 seconds later that went off McDonagh.
J.T. Miller scored a power-play goal on a tip-in at 1:44 of the second period after a cross-ice pass from Nikita Kucherov to make it 2-1.
The Lightning thought they tied it at 6:02 of the third period, when Alex Killorn tucked the puck into the net on a wraparound. But goaltender interference was called on Anthony Cirelli and the call was upheld after Tampa Bay used its coach's challenge.

"I just didn't think there was interference," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I understand Cirelli was in the crease, but I didn't think the goaltender was being interfered with."
Patrice Bergeron scored from the left side of the slot after a backhand pass from Pastrnak to make it 3-1 at 11:59.
Victor Hedman's snap shot from the left circle went off Rask's left arm and into the net at 13:54 to get the Lightning back within 3-2.
Marchand scored an empty-net goal with 56 seconds remaining to make it 4-2.
"Well we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but at the end of the year, we're playing some meaningful games, maybe looking up at some potential matchups in the future," Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. "You just want to make sure that you go out there and show that you can play any type of game. So the emotion, the drive out there, it was tough. Every inch of ice was earned and we did a good job."

Goal of the game

Bergeron's goal at 11:59 of the third period.

Save of the game

Rask's save on McDonagh at 14:28 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Rask's save on Kucherov at 11:20 of the third period.

They said it

"Got to keep playing the games, got to play hard. The big thing for us is we're in the playoffs. But one of our goals was try and get the division. And we've got these guys one more time (April 3 at Tampa Bay), so obviously that game's going to be a big one." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper
"It was an awesome game. You know that's why we play hockey, for this kind of game. It's a lot of fun and it just shows how good of a team we are, and the guys, you could see that everybody was on board tonight." -- Bruins forward David Pastrnak

Need to know

The Bruins have won each of the three games against the Lightning this season. ... Rask played his 445th game, second most for a Bruins goalie, passing Frank Brimsek and Ed Johnston. Tiny Thompson played 468. … Rask has a 10-game point streak (9-0-1).

What's next

Lightning: At the New York Rangers on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVAS, MSG, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Bruins: Host the Florida Panthers on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, FS-F, NHL.TV)