Lightning Jump Out to Early Series Lead

The Bruins opened up their Conference Finals appearance on their heels, right from the drop of the puck.  The Lightning were primed and ready to go and they kicked into gear right away, controlling the pace and flow of play right from the drop of the puck.  Playing with a great deal of confidence and possibly a shade less pressure than their rivals, the Lightning were able to strike in quick succession in the 1st period, scoring three goals in 1:25 midway through the opening frame and that was all they would really need for the rest of the game.

Boston would get one back before the end of the 1st, nothing for goals came in the 2nd and the Lightning scored a couple more to the Bruins' late 3rd period goal and the game finished up as a 5-2 final for the road team.  Tampa now having 1-0 series lead.

The big players in Game One were important players in the top 10 race, as Teddy Purcell was the big point-getter in the opener, scoring the winning goal and adding an assist for a 3-point night.  Brett Clark had a goal and an assist for his first 2 points of these playoffs, while Dwayne Roloson made 31 saves for 2 points.

When you add a point from Johnny Boychuk and a point from Michael Ryder to the mix, the race for top spot became a little bit closer, as Tryst'n'Grant shaved off one point from the gap between themselves and Superstar.

As expected, Box 18 forward Simon Gagne did return to the Lightning line-up on Saturday night, as he was deemed healthy enough to return from an upper-body injury.  Gagne missed out on three playoff games with the upper-body injury and can now continue to work his magic in the playoff pool.

Game Two of the series goes on Tuesday night in Boston, it has a 6pm face-off on CBC.