Roloson improved to 7-0 in elimination games during his career, including 4-0 this postseason. The Lightning rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Pittsburgh in the first round, with their 41-year-old goalie shutting out the Penguins in Game 7 on the road.

Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher gave backup goalie Mike Smith his first career playoff start Monday night, saying he felt Roloson — whose midseason acquisition was one of the keys to Tampa Bay emerging as a contender — needed a "breather" after starting the Lightning's first 15 postseason games.

Smith stopped 17 of 19 shots in the Game 5 loss, however Boucher didn't hesitate to go back to Roloson with the Lightning facing elimination.

Boston coach Claude Julien said his team would need to play its best game of the series to clinch it, and the Bruins certainly had to have some doubt about how the night might go when Vincent Lecavalier won a faceoff in the right circle, and Purcell scored on Tampa Bay's opening shot.

Lucic countered for Boston less than seven minutes later with a wrist shot from the slot that got past Roloson. Krejci's third goal of the series, after he took a nice backhand pass from along the boards from Daniel Paille, gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with 3:30 remaining in the first period.

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But an inability to take advantage of three more power plays caught up with Boston in the middle of the second period when Tampa Bay, which hadn't scored in man-advantage situations since Game 2, converted three within 12 minutes to regain the lead for good.

"We've been able to bounce back, but it's going to be our toughest challenge. We need to put together a full 60 minutes and that's going to be important going into the next game," Lucic said.

"You have a chance to close it out and you don't do it, being up 3-2 you get another chance," Lucic added. "You've got to be excited for it, you've got to enjoy it and you've got to be looking forward to that challenge, because for almost all of us it's the biggest game of our careers. You've got to go out there, have fun and have no regrets."

Notes: Purcell's quick goal marked the fourth time in the series a team scored less than two minutes into a game. ... The Lightning played without injured LW Sean Bergenheim, who began the night with a league-leading nine goals during the playoffs after scoring 14 during the regular season. He missed the last two periods of Game 5 with an undisclosed injury. ... The Bruins, 1 for 5 on the power play, had 15 straight advantages without a goal when Krejci trimmed Tampa Bay's lead to 4-3 midway through the third period. It was also Boston's first power-play goal on the road during the playoffs. The Bruins entered the game 0 for 21.

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