TAMPA, Fla. _ It's easy to point to the elite talent on the Lightning's roster when looking for a reason as to why they are once again among the NHL's best teams again this year.
Tampa Bay has one of the NHL's point leaders in Nikita Kucherov. It has one of the league's top goal scorers in Brayden Point. It has two top defensemen in Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh.
But it's the depth that makes this Lightning team truly dangerous. It's the depth that has this team in contention for a Stanley Cup once again. And it's the depth that sparked the Lightning late against the Bruins.
Third and fourth liners scored two late goals to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 victory over Boston at Amalie Arena. The Lightning (22-7-1) remain atop the NHL with 45 points.
Rookie Mathieu Joseph scored the first third-period goal, which came less than three minutes into the third period. Then Anthony Cirelli added a short-handed goal about 90 seconds later.
Joseph's goal gave the Lightning their first lead of the game. The Lightning had to play from behind early.
Two minutes into the game, Lightning goaltender Louis Domingue denied the first shot he faced from Colby Cave, but David Pastrnak kicked the rebound to himself and dove to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 17:56 left in the first period.
The Lightning didn't answer until 5:01 remained in the first. Nikita Kucherov hit Brayden Point with a backhanded pass, and Point turned that pass into his 21st goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
The score didn't change for the rest of the first and all of the second, but Pastrnak gave Lightning fans a scare. With about two minutes left in the game, he sped down the ice after collecting the puck in the neutral zone. Domingue, however, denied his breakaway with his right pad, maintaining the tie.
The second lacked scoring, but it didn't lack for physicality. It seemed that every other minute there was a Bruin or Lightning player trying to level an opposing player. Through two periods, the Bruins had 25 hits while the Lightning had 18.
Despite being down two, the Bruins did not go away quietly. With 1:45 left in the third period, David Krejci scored to bring Boston within 3-2. The Bruins had just pulled Rask moments before.
