TAMPA — It was the most fitting play of the Bruins season.

The Bruins are clinging to a 1-0 lead in the third period against a team more than capable of tying it up. Andrew Ference takes a pass from Michael Ryder. He fires a shot from the point that goes past a screening Chris Kelly and slowly trickles through the legs of Dwayne Roloson to make it 2-0, which would be the game’s final score.

Goal scored by No. 19, Tyler Seguin. 

The goal later was corrected to accurately credit Ference, but what better way to summarize Ference's 2010-11 contributions to the Bruins than the play’s magical transformation from crucial goal to the latest installment of The Seguin Show? Whenever people are talking about Ference, it’s for something outside of his game, and when he’s doing the work that’s made him a cog in Claude Julien’s system, you could hear a pin drop. It’s something that shouldn’t come as a surprise at this point, and it’s why few — if any — Bruins deserve the “unsung hero” tag more than the Bruins’ resident environmentalist. 

Make no mistake — Ference’s season won’t get him mistaken for an All-Star, and averaging 17:59 in the regular season hardly puts him on the same level as the likes of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg — but through all the extracurricular attention, Ference has been rock steady. His two goals this postseason are as many as he had in the three regular seasons prior to 2010-11, and he’s been a safe bet for 20 solid minutes a night in the playoffs.

“He’s been very, very consistent, if not the most consistent defenseman we’ve had all season,” Seidenberg said of Ference after Thursday’s game. “He’s been solid every time he’s been on the ice. He never gives up any soft goals. He’s been unbelievable for us, and a real workhorse.”

Prior to the season, the book on Ference already had been written based on the last few campaigns: a solid defenseman who is guaranteed to miss 20-30 games with an injury. Not a plus-minus monster, and probably not the 31-point guy he was back in 2006 with the Flames, which was his only 82-game season. 

Then there’s the contract. The world let out a unison “huh?” when Peter Chiarelli inked the blueliner to a three-year deal that carried an annual cap hit of $2.25 million last season.

If that wasn’t enough, along came the fun side-stories that this season held for the 32-year-old. Never was Ference more heavily sought out by the media this season than following his comment that Daniel Paille’s hit on Raymond Sawada back in February was dirty. Day after day, Ference answered the same questions about why he decided to stick up for the safety of players even if it meant the perception that he was throwing his teammate under the bus. 

While the hockey world had its fun with Ference’s words, nothing was more popular than the “unintentional bird” he flipped the Bell Centre crowd after his second-period goal in Game 4 of the first round. There’s been no shortage of Andrew Ference talk this season, but it’s rarely been about how amidst a season that’s seen Ference stay healthy (his 70 games in the regular season were the most since he arrived in Boston) and sound (a career-high plus-22 rating).

Through all the imaginary turmoil in the Bruins’ room that some suggested Ference caused with his comments — the same ones that Patrice Bergeron made in a separate media scrum about 15 feet away — about the Paille hit, Ference has been the ultimate team player. Asked Thursday to evaluate how this season has been for him personally, he rattled off what has made things so good for the team. Pressed further to evaluate a solid season that has rarely been recognized as such, he looked at the big picture.

“I think that I’m expected to be consistent. The expectations of what I’m supposed to bring to this team [are being] met, but I don’t think that I’m playing above that,” Ference said following the game. “I think I’m playing to what Peter expected me to do when he signed my contract. As a player, that’s what you do. 

“Throughout your career, you set the bar at a certain height, and that’s where people expect you to play, especially when they’re paying you money to do it.” 

Fifteen points and an average of less than 20 minutes a night in the regular season for $2.25 million doesn’t scream “unsung hero,” and even Ference sees it that way. With players like tough guy Shawn Thornton and rookie Brad Marchand making major contributions to the team this year, it’s easy to forget to include Ference’s name in the discussion. He certainly won’t include his name in it, but you’d be hard-pressed to find the green defenseman esteeming himself. He looks at it as a case of earning his contract, while others shine.

Said Ference: “You’re doing your job that you’re getting paid to do, and meeting what the team expects of you. … A guy like Marchy is exceeding expectations and playing above what the team expected of him going into the year. There’s a difference.”

As for Seidenberg’s assessment of his season, Ference simply considered the source.

“He’s just really friendly,” Ference said with a laugh. “He’s the kind of guy who would say that.” 

Ference has the perplexing contract. He has the glove that made it look like he was giving the crowd the finger when he, you know, gave the crowd the finger. Yet at the end of the day, he’s been a smart, steady and (finally) healthy defenseman for the Bruins. Even if it isn’t the first thing you notice.