By Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
New sensation
Bruins rookie Tyler Seguin, 19, was the talk of the town after his Game 2, in which he became the first player with four points in a period since Trevor Linden in 1989. After being in headlines and on ESPN's SportsCenter, Seguin, far left vs. Dwayne Roloson, said he watched highlights of his two goal-two assist second in the Bruins' 6-5 win at home. "I had a friend in town, so we went back to my place, just caught a couple highlights. It was nice to see."
Surprise, surprise
Considering how strong Boston and Tampa Bay had been defensively in the playoffs, and that respective goaltenders Tim Thomas and Dwayne Roloson entered the Eastern Conference final ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in goals-against average and save percentage, Bruins D Dennis Seidenberg said neither team expected 18 combined goals to be scored in the first two games (including 11 in Game 2). Said Lightning C Steven Stamkos, "A lot of goals are being scored, but a lot of them are either coming off lucky bounces or breakdowns in the defensive end that are leading to pretty good chances, grade-A scoring chances, and the goalies aren't going to stop every single puck."
Diving platform
Bruins RW Nathan Horton, below, knows he has to make sure he doesn't go over the line in taking penalties, but he appeared to take a not-so-subtle shot at the Lightning on Wednesday. "You don't want to put yourself in a situation where they can take a dive and get a penalty (called against Boston), too," he said. "You've just got to be careful and pick your spots, and hopefully not everyone is diving." Did that happen Tuesday in Game 2? "A couple times," Horton said. "I deserved one of my penalties, but the other one, he hit me, and he fell, so that's just how it goes sometimes." Horton didn't mention any names, but he was called for interference on C Dominic Moore and elbowing D Mike Lundin.
Quote of the day
"You have to be a realist, and you're not going to go from the second round of the (playoffs) and win every single game. … We expected this to be a long series, and our expectations haven't changed now just because we lost one game."
Lightning C Steven Stamkos, reflecting after the Game 2 loss, which ended Tampa Bay's eight-game playoff winning streak
Tickets
Tonight's Games 3, Game 4 and a potential Game 6 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa are sold out. Unused team tickets might be released on game days. Check with the box office at (813) 301-6600 and Ticketmaster (outlets, ticketmaster.com, toll-free 1-800-745-3000).
The series Tied 1-1
Game 1, Lightning 5, Bruins 2: Three goals in 1:25 of the first spark Lightning.
Game 2, Bruins 6, Lightning 5: Bruins score five in the second.
Tonight: at Tampa Bay, 8, Versus
Saturday: at Tampa Bay, 1:30, Ch. 8
Monday: at Boston, 8, Versus
Wednesday: at Tampa Bay, 8, Versus *
May 27: at Boston, 8, Versus *
Radio: 970-AM, except Wednesday, which is 620-AM
* If necessary