This story originally ran in BruinsZone.com on May 14, 2011.

By Nick Tavares

Well, that was a downer.

While neither team necessarily looked like they hadn’t played in a week, Tampa made the most of their opportunities, and the Bruins didn’t do much to create counter-chances. As a result, the Lightning win this one, 5-2, and are up 1-0 in the series.

Three quick goals put the Bruins in an early hole, simply the product of fast, creative skating and less-than-stellar defense. The first goal came from an opportunistic Sean Bergenheim, putting the puck past Tim Thomas on a scrum in front of the crease. The others were just breakdowns in the defensive zone, followed by shots beating the goalie. Disappointing, but, c’est la vie.

Tyler Seguin, though, picked a beautiful moment to make his presence felt. Seguin got the puck across the blue line from Michael Ryder, skated in alone, and beat Dwayne Roloson, followed by the customary “jump up against the glass and scream” celebration for big playoff goals. Did it give the Bruins the lead, or win a series? No. But it was a huge step for a young player with so many questions, who hadn’t played in a month, who had never felt the speed and pressure of playoff hockey.

With Thomas pulled, Seguin also worked the puck back to Johnny Boychuck for a bomb for a late goal for an assist. On a bad night where the Bruins missed Patrice Bergeron’s ability to win faceoffs at will, Seguin’s play was a bright spot, at the very least.

Boychuck’s costly second hit

There were some fireworks midway through the third period. Boychuck nailed Simon Gagne with a hit along the halfwall, which led Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier to come in to engage Boychuck and stick up for his teammate. Gagne, of course, was playing in his first game since leaving Game 1 of Tampa’s second-round series injured.

Boychuck answered with a punch on Lecavalier, and that landed him in the box for two minutes. Marc-Andre Bergeron made the Bruins pay, scoring to make the score 4-1 and essentially seal the game.

So, a lesson: the hit was clean, but Boychuck should’ve kept his head when Lecavalier entered the situation.

Around the rink

With alternate captain Bergeron out with a concussion, the Bruins didn’t issue a second “A” to any player. Zdeno Chara wore the captain’s “C,” and Mark Recchi had the other “A,” as usual. …

Roloson won his eighth consecutive playoff game for Tampa. He won the last three games of their first round series to Pittsburgh, swept Washington, and jumped up to a 1-0 series edge on Boston tonight. …

In his first-ever playoff game, Seguin earned 9:38 of ice time. In his 175th playoff game, Recchi played 20:02. …

The Bruins sent a message to Dominic Moore, Victor Hedman and the Lightning in the dying seconds, with Horton throwing a punch at Moore and Lucic rocking Hedman down at the end. Forshadowing for a chippy Game 2? We’ll see. …