Bruins build early 4-goal lead, defeat Lightning

BOSTON -- David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists, and Jeremy Swayman made 43 saves for the Boston Bruins in a 6-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden on Tuesday.

“'Sway' came up large again for us tonight at certain points of the game,” Bruins coach Joe Sacco said.

Pavel Zacha also had a goal and two assists, Andrew Peeke and Brad Marchand each had a goal and an assist, and Parker Wotherspoon scored his first NHL goal for the Bruins (22-19-5), who have won two straight after losing their previous six.

Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves for the Lightning (23-16-3), who had their four-game point streak end (3-0-1). Brayden Point was a healthy scratch after he missed a team meeting.

“We’ve had a team standard since I’ve been here,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s professional sports, and you’ve got rules and nobody’s above the law. It’s unfortunate because this game we could have really needed him, but the one who probably feels the worst about it is [Point], because he’s such a great guy and great team guy. So, it’s unfortunate. I doubt he’s going to be the last player in the League to do something like that, but I felt awful and wish we could have had him tonight.”

Trent Frederic gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 4:24 of the first period. Matthew Poitras skated in on a 2-on-1, showed patience with the puck by waiting out a sliding Nick Perbix, and sent a pass to Frederic for a tap-in at the left post.

“[Poitras] played well tonight,” Sacco said. “We brought him up (from Providence of the American Hockey League) and he obviously used his speed and offensive ability on that first goal. He made a really nice play to [Frederic] and did a lot of other good things with the puck. ... I liked the energy he brought to the game for us.”

Wotherspoon made it 2-0 at 9:31 of the first. Pastrnak sent a cross-ice pass to the defenseman, who beat Vasilevskiy to the top left corner with a shot from the left face-off circle.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for that moment,” said Wotherspoon, who was playing in his 76th NHL game. “It’s big. My mom was in the crowd tonight, too, so it makes it a little bit bigger, and I know she’s going to be fired up.”

Marchand extended the lead to 3-0 at 1:13 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that beat Vasilevskiy over his glove.

Pastrnak made it 4-0 during a 4-on-4 at 6:05, scoring with a one-timer from the bottom of the left face-off circle off a pass from Zacha, who took the rebound away from Erik Cernak in front. Peeke started the play by skating through the neutral zone and down the left wing, where he cut back into the high slot through two Lightning defenders for the shot that the produced the rebound.

“Having a strong start helped us a lot, especially in our building, and setting the tone with how we want to play and maintain play throughout all 60 minutes” Swayman said. “That’s a huge momentum builder for us, and I’m excited to continue that.”

Conor Geekie scored on a redirection of Hedman's shot from the point to make it 4-1 at 8:50 of the second. Hedman then cut it to 4-2 at 19:42, scoring five-hole from the left face-off circle off a pass from Nikita Kucherov.

However, Peeke (16:30) and Zacha (16:56) each scored a short-handed goal into an empty net in the third period for the 6-2 final.

“We’ve got to have better starts,” Hedman said. “We've got to make sure we start the game on time and put ourselves in a better position, because it’s frustrating.”

NOTES: Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh left the game early in the third period after he was hit in the face by the puck. There was no update. ... Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo played in his 600th NHL game. ... Poitras was playing in his first NHL game since Nov. 9. ... Bruins defenseman Michael Callahan, who is from Franklin, Massachusetts, was plus-1 in 14:11 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Bruins forward Cole Koepke left in the third period after he was hit near the boards in the neutral zone by Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh. There was no update. ... Lightning forward Jack Finley, who was recalled from Syracuse of the AHL earlier Tuesday, was plus-1 in 8:25 of ice time in his NHL debut.