He was the lone bright spot in the storm.
Not long after the Lightning struck three times in a span of 85 seconds, there was young Tyler Seguin, weaving up ice, outmaneuvering defenders and beating Dwayne Roloson for the first Bruins goal in an otherwise dreadful 5-2 loss Saturday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Seguin’s shot in the arm in his first-ever playoff game could lead to more opportunities for the 19-year-old in tomorrow’s Game 2 at the Garden.
Whether that includes time on the power play remains to be seen.
Despite his active 10 minutes Saturday, Seguin did not log any power-play shifts.
“If I get that opportunity, I’m going to try to make the most of it,” Seguin said. “I know I’ve been sitting out all playoffs, so I understand why I’m not being thrown on the power play right away.”
Perhaps an infusion of young blood is needed, however, after an 0-for-4 performance dropped the Bruins power play to 2-for-41 for the postseason — a number that includes a meaningless 5-on-3 goal with 1:22 left in an already-decided Game 3 against the Flyers.
Those numbers appear even more ominous with the Lightning allowing just three goals in 54 power-play chances. But Bruins coach Claude Julien is hesitant to overload Seguin, who hadn’t played in a month before Saturday.
Julien: ‘Better’ equals winning
Claude Julien knows how his team looked Saturday night.
He also doesn’t think it’s too far away from competing against Tampa Bay.
“It’s certainly a wake-up call,” Julien said yesterday. “We need to know that we’re going to have to play a lot better. But again, as I said, we have to look at our team here, and if we play a little better and compete a little harder and we win more battles like that, it’s going to make a big difference.”
