from John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times,

Well, that was entertaining. And maybe a little scary.

The Lightning played what might have been their best 20 minutes of hockey all season in the first period against Boston on Monday night. They also outscored the Bruins in the third period.

And, yet, they still managed to lose 5-3.

That’s how hot the Bruins are. And that’s how much ground the Lightning need to make up if they plan on extending their three-year hold on the Eastern Conference....

The good news is it’s still ridiculously early. And regular-season results in November are not necessarily a precursor to what you’ll see once spring arrives.

In the previous five years, the Bruins and Lightning had gone 8-8 against each other in the regular season. But all that really matters is the Lightning went 8-2 against Boston in two postseason showdowns. In other words, there’s plenty of time and hope for better results to come.

“Guess we just have to remember this feeling because, you know, we felt like was could have walked out of here with two points,” said forward Pat Maroon, who had two assists and a plus-one rating.

more

Game highlights are below