Chris O'Meara/AP

Somehow, the Bruins nearly tied the game on several occasions -- Blake Wheeler hit the post in the second, Marco Sturm hit iron in the third -- despite being manhandled in the second period. But the hockey gods declared that the Bruins' second-period performance was too porous to deserve a victory.

"We played one period," said Marc Savard. "It was almost enough. But in this league, most nights, it's not going to be enough."

• Sturm (a team-best six shots) scored his third goal in four games. Looks like he's in one of those patented Sturm hot streaks.
• Tim Thomas said Kurtis Foster's first-period dump-in took a funny bounce at the last instant, forcing him to kick the puck to Vincent Lecavalier. The captain then found Alex Tanguay for the game's first goal.
• Like John Tortorella used to do, Rick Tocchet likes to lean on his best players. Seven Tampa skaters (Lecavalier, Foster, Mattias Ohlund, Ryan Malone, Martin St. Louis, Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos) played 20 or minutes.

STICK SALUTE: Byron Bitz. Tried to get his teammates going by throwing down with Zenon Konopka in the second.

SIN BIN: Don VanMassenhoven. Not the referee's finest performance.

***

All done in Tampa. Lightning, 2-1.

18:52 (3). Timeout Tampa. Zdeno Chara in front on the PP.

18:33 (3). Timeout Bruins. PP coming up.

17:00 (3). Marco Sturm rings a slapper off the right post.

13:30 (3). Real rough night for the refs. Blake Wheeler sent to the box for roughing in retaliation for a Steve Downie cross-check.

12:30 (3). Lightning, 2-1. Marco Sturm finds a Marc Savard feed, turns, and fires a shot off the left post and into the net.

11:00 (3). Tim Thomas covers a long shot. Incredibly, the Bruins are still in this game.

4:30 (3). Daniel Paille shaken up. Looked like he got slashed by David Hale.

1:56 (3). Steve Downie with an in-close shot. Doesn't look like the Bruins have tightened things up so far.

Second intermission

After 40 minutes, Lightning with a 2-0 lead.

• Tampa Bay owned the second period, outshooting the Bruins by a 23-7 margin. Lightning won puck battles all over the rink. They look like the hungrier team. The Bruins are lucky not to be down by five or more goals.
• This is the most active we've seen Tim Thomas in some time. That's an indication of a porous defense in front of him.
• Not sure what Mark Recchi did to earn an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the second. Whatever it was, it was unnecessary.

19:48 (2). Lightning, 2-0. Kurtis Foster gets a PP one-timer through Tim Thomas, and Martin St. Louis sweeps the puck over the line.

19:10 (2). Tim Thomas comes way out to stop Vincent Lecavalier.

11:51 (2). With traffic in front, Tim Thomas stops Andrej Meszaros's point blast.

6:25 (2). Blake Wheeler hits iron from the high slot. Good work by David Krejci to hold the puck and find an open Wheeler.

5:30 (2). Zdeno Chara pokes the puck away from Martin St. Louis to foil a possible two-on-one.

3:37 (2). Good puck battle on the wall between Mike Smith and Michael Ryder. Smith not scared to play the puck.

2:41 (2). Off the draw, Byron Bitz vs. Zenon Konopka. Brief fight with not many punches thrown.

1:40 (2). Great chance in front for Vincent Lecavalier, but the captain shoots wide.

First intermission

After 20 minutes, Lightning with a 1-0 lead. Bruins with a 10-7 shot advantage.

• Tim Thomas has to steer Kurtis Foster's dump-in out of trouble. That said, tricky puck to handle for Thomas -- a soft-moving bouncer.
• Compared to last night's drowsy first period, it's been an entertaining 20 minutes so far in Tampa. The Lightning play with a lot of grit and energy. Looks like they're buying in to Rick Tocchet's game plan.
• Lightning had a good chance on goal after Steve Downie stripped Blake Wheeler of the puck in the neutral zone. Wheeler has to be more protective of the puck.

18:59 (1). Lightning, 1-0. Kurtis Foster with the long-distance dump-in that Tim Thomas can't handle. Vincent Lecavalier finds the rebound and sends a behind-the-back pass to Alex Tanguay. Easy tap-in for Tanguay.

15:25 (1). Alex Tanguay hits the right post.

14:10 (1). Mike Smith stops Dennis Wideman's slap shot. Good puck control by Vladimir Sobotka in the offensive zone.

13:00 (1). Outstanding shift by the Bergeron line. Heavy pressure by all three forwards.

9:20 (1). Another in-close chance for Daniel Paille.

8:44 (1). Mike Smith with the pad stack on Mark Recchi. Nothing on the power play.

6:37 (1). Ryan Malone belts Zdeno Chara into the wall. Boarding on Malone. Rare to see Chara getting dropped like that.

4:28 (1). Nice play by Victor Hedman to bust up a David Krejci and Michael Ryder two-on-one.

4:00 (1). Ryan Malone tips Steven Stamkos's attempt.

2:52 (1). Great action so far. Big hit by David Hale on Dennis Wideman.

Adam McQuaid is the healthy scratch.