Boston and the Tampa Bay Lightning settle for a tie

BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Bruins played aggressively in the third period, hoping to get into the playoffs with a win. Turns out they didn’t need it.

A few minutes after they tied the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-2 on Monday night, they clinched a postseason berth when the New York Rangers lost to Atlanta in overtime.

“It’s all good to make the playoffs,” Boston’s Brian Rolston said, “but you are here for one reason, to win the Stanley Cup.”

The Bruins are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 84 points, while the Rangers have 76. Each team has three games left.

The Rangers still have a chance to catch the New York Islanders, with 80 points and four games left, for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. The Rangers visit the Islanders, who hold a three-point lead, on Tuesday night.

Former Boston goalie John Grahame kept the Bruins from clinching on their own as he was outstanding in the third period and overtime when Boston outshot Tampa Bay 19-4.

“It was weird coming in here. I’ve never been in the visiting locker room before,” said Grahame, who was traded Jan. 13. “Once you get out there, everything goes back to normal.”

With all those shots, the Bruins managed only to tie the game 2-2 on Mike Knuble’s 28th goal at 4:28 of the third. Joe Thornton made a backhand pass from the right point into the slot. Knuble, standing 15 feet in front of Grahame, scored with a hard forehand shot.

“The trick will be to carry the pace of play we had (in the third period) into” Tuesday’s game at Ottawa, Knuble said.

The Lightning extended their franchise record unbeaten streak to 12 games with their third straight tie and fourth in six games. They clinched at least the sixth seed in the East.

“You’d like to get the two points as often as possible, but we are finding a way to stay in it until the end,” Tampa Bay’s Dan Boyle said. “This wasn’t one of our best games.”

It could have been better if not for Bruins’ goalie Steve Shields, who stopped the most dangerous scoring chance of overtime.

Boyle skated into the Bruins zone and went between defensemen Dan McGillis and Bryan Berard. He took a shot from point-blank range with 25 seconds left, but Shields stopped it with his pads.

“We’ve come a long way,” Boyle said. “Earlier this season we would panic in games like this, but now we stay calm.”

Tampa Bay extended its unbeaten streak to 6-0-6 and is 13-2-8 in its last 23 games. But its long winless string in Boston continued. The Lightning are 0-14-4 there since their last win on Dec. 17, 1997. Overall, they’re 1-15-5 in Boston.

The Bruins’ play picked up after coach Mike O’Connell told them during the second period intermission “that we weren’t skating,” Boston’s P.J. Axelsson said.

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead just 1:01 in on Ruslan Fedotenko’s 18th goal. He had the puck behind the net and jammed it by Shields.

Nick Boynton tied it for Boston with his seventh goal at 13:49 of the first. Jozef Stumpel shot the puck toward the goal, and Boynton, standing five feet in front of Grahame, poked it in.

The Lightning made it 2-1 at 12:32 of the second period on Fredrik Modin’s 17th goal as he deflected Brad Richards’ shot past Shields.

Notes: The Bruins recalled RW Lee Goren from Providence of the AHL where he had 32 goals, 37 assists and 106 penalty minutes in 65 games. … Last season, the Bruins clinched a playoff berth with a win over Tampa Bay on March 24, finished first in the East but lost in the first round to Montreal. … Shields started his fourth straight game in place of first-string goalie Jeff Hackett, who has a finger injury. … Tampa Bay hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a game since Feb. 23. … Boston is 2-2-2 since O’Connell succeeded the fired Robbie Ftorek as coach.

AP-ES-03-31-03 2306EST