This afternoon’s game felt agonizingly familiar.
The Bruins, pushing forward at every opportunity, were stymied by Tampa time and time again. Pucks were dumped in and sent right back out. Zone entries were contested and turned back. Shots went off skates or sticks, skittering harmlessly into the corner.
In a series filled with “what ifs” and shouts “where’s the call,” a simple truth became pretty clear as time ticked down on the Bruins’ season: the Lightning, quite simply, were the better team.
Yes, the refs were bad. And while the most egregious missed call went against the Bruins, they were bad for Tampa too.