(My Sportsbook) - Sure the Tampa Bay Lightning would have preferred a win over Boston on Monday night, but in the grand scheme of things a point will do just fine.

The 2-2 tie with the Bruins gives the Bolts a three-point lead over Washington in the Southeast Division race, reducing their magic number to four. Any combination of four points gained by Tampa and lost by Washington would give the Lightning their first-ever division crown.

Mike Knuble scored early in the third period to help the Bruins skate to a 2-2 tie with the Lightning at the FleetCenter. Ruslan Fedotenko and Fredrik Modin scored for the Lightning, who are unbeaten in their last 12 games (6-0-6).

Nick Boynton also scored for Boston, which clinched a playoff spot with the point and the New York Rangers' overtime loss to Atlanta on Monday. The Bruins have 84 points and hold the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.

John Grahame made 33 saves for the Lightning, while Steve Shields turned aside 15 shots for Boston.

Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead on Modin's goal at 12:32 of the second period. Brad Richards wristed a shot from the right point and Modin was in front for the deflection.

Knuble knotted the score at 2-2 at 4:27 of the third period. Joe Thornton made a pass into the slot and Knuble beat Grahame with a wrist shot. The Bruins outshot Tampa Bay 16-2 in the third period and had three of the five shots in the extra session.

"Through the first two periods I thought we played well, but in the third we struggled," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "I thought we turned it over too much and if you turn it over against that team you're just not going to get anything done."

The Lightning opened the scoring just 1:01 into the game on Fedotenko's 18th of the year. The winger skated behind the net and backhanded a pass in front. The puck then hit off a skate and caromed into the net.

Boston evened the score with 6:11 left in the first period on Boynton's tally. Jozef Stumpel took a wrist shot from the right circle and Grahame made a pad save. Boynton was in the crease and knocked in the rebound.

UP NEXT

The Lightning will host Montreal (Wednesday) and Philadelphia (Friday) before finishing the season Sunday in Atlanta.