TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to overcome a resurgent Tim Thomas and even up the Eastern Conference finals.

Tampa Bay trails Boston 2-1 heading into today’s Game 4, thanks in part to a strong bounce-back effort by Thomas. The Bruins’ goalie stopped 31 shots in a 2-0 victory Thursday night.

“We need to step up our game another notch,” Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said.

Thomas, the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the top regular-season goalie because of a 2.00 goal-against average, gave up nine goals in the first two games.

But he and the Boston defense, which allowed an Eastern Conference-low 195 goals during the regular season, returned to form.

“He’ll give credit to the people in front of him,” Boston Coach Claude Julien said. “I think that’s very deserving. But when they had some great opportunities, he was also there to make the big saves. He’s been a great goaltender.”

Thomas was especially strong in Game 3 during a first-period sequence after the Bruins took a 1-0 lead, stopping a number of good scoring chances.

“They came in pretty fast and I was moving when the first shot came, so I made the save,” Thomas said. “But as I was doing it, my momentum carried me toward the corner, and out of the corner of my eye I saw (Vincent) Lecavalier was going to get the rebound. That’s when I did a spin-o-rama — spun around, got to the center of the net and was fortunate to get a leg around it.”

The Lightning had 15 shots in the third.

“I thought we played pretty solid,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. “We tried to really focus on our position play, being in the right place away from the puck.”

Tampa Bay has the firepower to make a difference again in Game 4. The trio of Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis combined for 11 shots Thursday.

“It’s a much tighter game,” Lightning Coach Guy Boucher said. “So, you’re looking for those opportunities and things you normally do, but they are harder to come by. It’s not like we’re playing a phantom team and they were just going to let us run around and have our breakaways.”

Boston has played well on the road during the postseason, winning 5 of 6. The Lightning are just 3-3 on home ice.

“It would be nice to go home 3-1,” Bruins right wing Michael Ryder said. “It’s going to take our A game to do that. We know they’re going to come out even harder.”

The Bruins have failed to score on 19 road power plays during the postseason and are 4 for 50 overall.

Tampa Bay can be upbeat, even after dropping two straight to Boston.

“Another big challenge. There’s no panic,” said Tampa Bay forward Ryan Malone.