BOSTON (AP) – Mike Smith stopped 35 shots, and the last-place Tampa Bay Lightning got goals from Jeff Halpern and Andreas Karlsson on Thursday night in a 3-1 victory over the slumping Boston Bruins.

Vincent Lecavalier made it 3-1 on an empty-netter with 7.8 seconds left.

Even with the win, the Lightning remained in last place in the Eastern Conference, with little hope of making the playoffs.

Boston didn’t score until Chuck Kobasew tipped Marco Sturm’s slap shot from the point into the net to make it 2-1 with 12:03 left. It was the sixth goal in six games for the Bruins, who are seventh in the Eastern Conference but sliding fast with just one win in seven games.

Tim Thomas stopped 23 shots for the Bruins, who have a one-point lead over eighth-place Philadelphia, with idle Buffalo just five points back in the chase for the conference’s bottom playoff spots.

Still, Tampa Bay held Boston scoreless for 47:57 – about the length of an NBA game.

Halpern won the faceoff after Peter Schaefer went off for hooking, and the puck went out to the point and over to Filip Kuba. He let loose a slap shot that was deflected into the net by Halpern to make it 1-0 – just 7 seconds into the power play.

Karlsson made it 2-0 in the second period on a breakaway.

Notes: Lecavalier played in his 700th NHL game. … Bruins D Zdeno Chara missed his third consecutive game with an undisclosed upper body injury.

AP-ES-03-13-08 2140EDT