Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Patrice Bergeron registered the deciding goal in the shootout and Brad Marchand sealed the outcome, as Boston managed to slip past Tampa Bay, 3-2, at TD Garden.
Bergeron and David Pastrnak tallied in regulation for the Bruins, who had lost seven straight contests decided in the game's terminal segment. Tuukka Rask made 35 saves.
"Since the trade deadline, I think a lot of guys have really felt like there's a sigh of relief and a belief 'it's time to play hockey,'" said B's head coach Claude Julien.
Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Lightning, who had won four straight games. Ben Bishop stopped 28 shots.
"We went on the road and finished with three out of four (points)," said Bolts head coach Jon Cooper. "I think the goaltender did well though he was left out there at times."
Bergeron sped in on Bishop and beat him cleanly on the first chance of the shootout, then Rask foiled Nikita Kucherov. Bishop stopped Pastrnak and Bishop turned away Jonathan Drouin, then Marchand put the game away with a low shot inside the left post.
"I think Bergy right now is pretty confident with his scoring ability so we had him lead the way. Tonight, it all happened to work out," Julien added.
Pastrnak put the Bruins ahead just shy of the eight-minute mark when a cross- crease pass from Ryan Spooner caromed off his skate and past Bishop.
A brief review upheld the on-ice call, that there was no distinct kicking motion to negate the score.
Stamkos evened things at 15:29 by stripping Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara in the Boston zone and beating Rask over the glove from the right side.
Bergeron provided a 2-1 lead for the hosts just 2:20 into the third on a blast from the point, then Namestnikov pulled the Bolts even once more at 8:04 by converting a Mark Barberio rebound.
Boston received the game's last break, when Stamkos was given a 10-minute misconduct with 1:01 left in overtime after throwing his broken stick into the stands.
Under Rule 84.4, any player who receives a misconduct is ineligible to participate in the shootout.
Game Notes
Both clubs are in action on Saturday, as Boston heads to Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay hosts Winnipeg ... Spooner's point streak was extended to seven games (3G, 5A), the longest for a Bruins rookie since Brad Boyes went seven in a row from March 11-21, 2006 ... Lightning forward Tyler Johnson's assist on Namestnikov's score boosted his point streak to eight games (3G, 7A).
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