TAMPA – Never is the importance of something made clearer than when it isn’t present. 

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals illustrated in detail why Zdeno Chara, who missed the contest due to illness, is the Bruins’ most important player. The B’s played the first two games of the conference finals without Patrice Bergeron, and saw the Lightning win 41 faceoffs Boston’s 26. When the Bruins don’t have something, it’s as good a reminder as any just how much they need it. 

On Saturday, the Bruins’ first line took its turn to stress its importance by having little to no positive impact on a 5-3 loss in Game 4 to the Lightning that saw Tampa crawl its way back from a 3-0 hole and back into the series. 

Claude Julien obviously didn’t like what he was seeing from his entire offense as the Lightning erased the B’s lead, as the head coach tinkered with his lineup with a set of different looks that included moving guys like Rich Peverley around in an attempt to generate more from his forwards. Nothing worked, and in the end, the numbers were brutal for Milan Lucic, David Krejci in Nathan Horton. 

The beautiful redirection of an Andrew Ference shot that nearly found its way past Mike Smith to tie the game with 1:52 left in the game was No. 18’s only shot on goal on the day. With the exception of his reaction to a Steve Downie dive in the second period, it was an awfully quiet day for Horton, who was credited with zero hits. 

The biggest impact any of the members of Boston’s top line had came on Simon Gagne’s game-winner a little less than seven minutes into the third period. Lucic sent a pass up to Tyler Seguin coming out the Bruins’ zone only to see Ryan Malone intercept it and backhand a pass to Gagne, who rifled a wrist shot past Tim Thomas to cap Tampa’s comeback and give the Lightning its first lead since 47 seconds into the second period of Game 2. Lucic was a minus-2 on the day and, until Horton’s redirection, was the only member of the Lucic-Krejci-Horton trio to put a shot on either of the Lightning’s goaltenders Saturday.

As for David Krejci, the skilled center rightfully notes when his line plays well despite production, but if he were made available for comment after the game (no members of the trio were), he probably wouldn’t have had much to work with. Krejci lost nine of the 12 draws he took and was a minus-3 with no shots on goal. 

“There’s more than David on that line,” Julien said after the game. “I think it was a tough night for their line tonight. We know what impact they have for our hockey club when they’re on, and tonight was a tough night for that line.”

The stinker turned in by Boston’s top line has to have Bruins fans wondering what could have been, but they’ve seen enough to know at this point. Krejci in particular has dominated in games this postseason, as he did when he racked up nine points against the Flyers in the team’s four-game second-round sweep. When Lucic fed Krejci in front of Dwayne Roloson in the first period of Game 3, the Czech center had all the time in the world to put it in for his team-leading seventh goal. Horton played the overtime hero twice in the first round vs. the Canadiens, had points in each game against the Flyers and turned in a three-point performance in Game 2 against Tampa. After a slow start to the postseason, the first line’s members have played and produced like a top line.

Yet when the Bruins did get production in Game 4, they got it from Patrice Bergeron (two goals, one of which was shorthanded), and from the Michael Ryder – Chris Kelly – Seguin line that had proven its effectiveness in Games 2 and 3. Against a team that decided to shut the Bruins down physically, the B’s might not be able to operate with just the other guys contributing. It’s an age-old cliché for the players to note that the Bruins are at a point in which they have can’t make mistakes or get too comfortable. The same can most certainly be said for line-wide disappearing acts. The Lightning’s comeback can’t be pinned on the top trio given that Krejci was the only member of his line to be on the ice for any of Tampa’s three second-period goals (he was a minus-1 on the period), but mustering no shots throughout the period is hardly the response Boston was looking for.

Now, the two teams return to the Garden tied at two games apiece, where they hope to pick up where they left off with Horton’s points, Krejci’s faceoff percentage (48.0) and Lucic’s five shots from Game 2. The B’s have reason to expect big things from their top three lines, but on Saturday, first was the worst.