On Tuesday evening, the Boston Bruins were hoping to derail their recent struggles when they paid their final visit of the season to Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Unfortunately, things didn't exactly go as planned for the Black and Gold who simply couldn't find their skating legs all night long. Tampa never looked back after jumping out to a hot start, taking control of the game for a full sixty minutes en route to a 6-1 home ice victory.
Allowing three goals in the first 4:31, starting netminder Marty Turco was pulled in favor of Tim Thomas less than five minutes into Tuesday's contest. Tom Pyatt got things going under two minutes in when a centering pass deflected off his skate and into the Boston net. Only thirty seconds later, former-Bruin Nate Thompson took advantage of a defensive zone breakdown by the B's to put home his ninth of the year.
Ryan Shannon and Victor Hedman would each add a goal of their own before the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the first. The Bolts had more first period goals (four) than the Bruins had shots (two).
The only goal of the middle period would come from superstar Steven Stamkos, who pushed a wrap-around past Tim Thomas for his 49th tally of the season.
With the score already out of hand, Jordan Caron would get one back for the B's when he re-directed a Zdeno Chara shot past Dustin Tokarski to make it a 5-1 game.
At the 11:43 mark, Stamkos would join elite company, becoming only the sixth player in NHL history to score 50 goals in multiple seasons before reaching his 23rd birthday. An amazing accomplishment for the 22-year-old Markham, Ontario native.
Falling by a 6-1 final, the struggling Bruins have now dropped three games in a row. The team's record has now fallen to a dismal 16-17-2 since their New Year's Eve loss down in Dallas.
The B's will be back at it on Thursday when they visit the Florida Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center.