TAMPA BAY — After saying earlier this week that he felt he had no options but to keep his nonproductive No. 3 line intact, Bruins coach Claude Julien Thursday morning pulled Matt Beleskey off the trio and tabbed Sean Kuraly to make his debut here against the Lightning.

“[Beleskey] certainly hasn’t found his game,’’ said Julien, who easily could have said the same of Beleskey’s linemates, Riley Nash and Jimmy Hayes. “Right now we need better from him. We’ve done everything we can to help him out there. So right now I feel it’s not a bad thing to take a step back and watch a game, and hopefully regroup in his mind and come back with the intention of being in there every night. He’s a good player.

“Right now I think we are getting a little bit more out of our role players than we are from him, so . . . this is a decision based on non-performance . . . this is what I am going with.’’

Kuraly, 6 feet 2 inches and 200 pounds, graduated from Miami (Ohio) in the spring and was a 2011 draft pick (No. 133). The 23-year-old, from Dublin, Ohio, played well in September’s rookie camp, looked comfortable but not remarkable during the varsity camp, and started the season with AHL Providence, where he chipped in with only a single assist in eight games.

Kuraly, who wore No. 52, finished with only 7:07 in ice time and noted, like most rookies, that he needed to adjust to the speed of play.

“There were some mistakes out there that I would like to have back,’’ he said, noting he wished he could have blocked the Tyler Johnson shot that tied it, 3-3, midway through the third. “Some of it was probably me being too excited and wanting to do a little too much, but . . . I think every day just get a little better, limit those mistakes and try not to do too much. Just do my job.’’

The one shot he attempted during his 11 shifts was blocked.

“Any time you don’t play it is disappointing,’’ said Beleskey, who was the club’s big free agent acquisition in the summer of 2015, a five-year deal worth $19 million. “Obviously, it’s not the start I am looking for.’’

Like his linemates on the Zero Sum Line, Beleskey owns a 0-0—0 line through nine games. Neither Nash nor Hayes had a point either entering the game vs. the Bolts.

“Whether it’s a message or a reset or whatever you want to call it,’’ said Beleskey, “it’s something you have to take in stride.’’

Combined, the Zero Sum Line totaled 36 shots over the first nine games. Beleskey hit the net a dozen times, a drop from his output last season when he landed 168 shots in 80 games.

“Honestly, I think my shots are down on net,’’ he said. “I think our line as a whole hasn’t had a whole lot of opportunities. That’s something we have to work on, work through, and that’s kind of what this is about.’’

Beleskey also took a nasty tumble into the net late in Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Florida. He sustained only what he would label an upper-body injury (likely a forearm, based on the fall), but it did not prevent him from being put through an exhaustive workout after the club’s morning practice at Amalie Arena. It could be that the injury added to Julien’s reasoning in pulling him out of the lineup.

Too many penalties

Among the points of emphasis for the Bruins headed into the game was the need to curb their penalties. In seven of their first nine games, they faced a minimum of four penalty-killing situations.

Better positioning and smarter/faster skating are often the keys to reducing penalties.

“I think it’s both,’’ said alternate captain Patrice Bergeron, who often leads the PK charge, adding wearing minutes to his time on ice. “There’s definitely a bunch we have taken this year in the [offensive] zone, that, you know, just can’t happen. So you have to move your feet, for sure, skating is a big element. And positioning also, sometimes you get beat and sometimes [committing a penalty] is the last resort.’’

Pastrnak returns

David Pastrnak was back in the lineup, skating with Bergeron and Brad Marchand, after being suspended two games for an illegal hit to the head of the Rangers’ Dan Girardi.

Pastrnak spent both games (in Detroit and Sunrise, Fla.) watching from the press box. Players typically find the vantage point valuable, because the game looks slower from high above the playing surface, which some say is a helpful reminder to hold the puck longer when they return to action.

“It’s true, but when you are on the ice it’s a lot different game,’’ said Pastrnak. “It’s easy to say what we are doing wrong from [watching] up there, but obviously it’s a lot [faster] on the ice.’’

Pastrnak, credited with the goal that came off Bergeron’s stick, landed two shots. Linemates Marchand and Bergeron had five shots apiece.

A smart path

Count ex-Crimson standout Alex Killorn, who stayed in Cambridge four years and earned his Harvard degree in 2012, among those who believes more college players will be enticed to follow Jimmy Vesey’s career path. Vesey graduated from Harvard this past spring, and because he stayed in college all four years, was declared a free agent — leading him to sign with the Rangers.

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t do that,’’ said Killorn, who also emphasized that he was happy to sign with the Bolts, the team that drafted him 77th overall in the 2007 draft. “Judging on how well it’s going for him . . . he was a great player, and I think wherever he went, he would have found success. But when you have a chance to look at all the teams, and really dissect them to figure out which team really gives you the best chance, I don’t know why you wouldn’t look into those avenues.

Power failure

Headed into the evening, the Bruins had only two power-play goals (2 for 31), their man advantage rated the worst in the league with only a 6.5 percent success rate. The Bolts were a torrid 10 for 41, ranked No. 5 overall at 24.4 percent. Four of their players had two goals apiece on the PP: Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Drouin, Nikita Kucherov, and Vladislav Namestnikov . . . BrianBoyle, ex- of St. Sebastian’s and Boston College, entered the night with a line of 2-0—2. Boyle, 31, is on the books for $2 million this season and will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 . . . Boston defenseman John-Michael Liles was back in the lineup after exiting in the third period in Sunrise after getting whacked across the chin with a stick . . . Overall, the Bruins attempted 55 shots (landed 31), while the Bolts ripped 52 toward Rask, landing 30 . . . David Krejci struggled at the faceoff dot, losing 9 of 12 drops . . . David Backes, who skated for the first time Wednesday after elbow surgery nine days earlier, likely will talk to the media Friday in Brighton. Julien said there was a chance Backes will play Saturday vs. the Rangers.