By Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer
Monday, May 23, 2011
BOSTON — Lightning veteran defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron says that at this time of year, with just four teams left, few mistakes are made.
"But when there's some," Bergeron said, "teams are good at taking advantage of them."
That's held true in the Eastern Conference final, as many turnovers are turning into goals. In Game 4, three bad Lightning passes led to Bruins scores.
Tampa Bay returned the favor by forcing turnovers behind the Bruins net, taking the puck from defensemen Zdeno Chara and Tomas Kaberle.
And in Monday's Game 5, Simon Gagne gave the Lightning a quick 1-0 lead, when a two-on-one rush was sparked by a Bruins turnover at the Lightning blue line as well as Boston defenseman Andrew Ference pinching too far in.
Essentially, every mistake has been magnified.
"They've made mistakes, we've capitalized on them and vice versa," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "So we really have to pay attention to those details and really minimize those kind of mistakes. And as you saw (Saturday) in the second period, when we got a 3-0 lead, we made some really poor decisions and mistakes of maybe not bearing down or not making that situation a big enough situation."
Lightning coach Guy Boucher said his team had 10 turnovers in the first period Saturday, the most in one period this season. From defenseman Victor Hedman's bad backpass that set up Bruins center Patrice Bergeron's goal to Marc-Andre Bergeron's giveaway in the neutral zone, Boston made Tampa Bay pay.
"You play a really good team that's got some skill and if you're going to give them that many, it's going to hurt you," Boucher said.
Some of the Bruins' miscues were forced by an aggressive Lightning forecheck, and they know how to counter that.
"Quick, solid puck-moving, good passes," Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. "If you do that, you get out of your zone pretty quick. If you don't, it plays right into their hands, and they create turnovers and chances."
Bruins center Rich Peverley said it's partly on the forwards to come back and offer support.
"We need to be good on the walls, and a few times we turned the puck over on the walls," Peverley said. "That's uncharacteristic of our team."
Joe Smith can be reached at joesmith@sptimes.com.