By Andrew Bluestein | Follow Me On X (Formerly Twitter) @adbblue
The Boston Bruins lost 5-4 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night. Boston was dominated for most of the night and had no business staying in the game.
They only registered four shots in the third period but scored on three of them. The Bruins undoubtedly stole a point and have now earned at least one in every game except for one this season.
First Period
Both teams traded some high-quality chances right out of the gate, but the Lightning struck first. After Tyler Motte got behind the Bruin’s defense, Tanner Jeannot banked home a loose puck on a delayed penalty to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead.
Boston answered 3:16 later when David Pastrnak made a great feed to Pavel Zacha, who buried it, tying the game 1-1. Zacha extended his point streak to five games with the goal. Jeremy Swayman was busy in the opening period, stopping 18 of Tampa’s 19 shots in goal.
Boston registered 12 first-period shots. There was also a lot of physicality, which was highlighted by a big hit from Charlie McAvoy on Tanner Jeannot. Overall, the lighting had a slight edge in play, but both teams certainly showed up to play.
Second Period
In the second period, the Bruins took consecutive penalties after having a brief power play. They found themselves down two men for just over a minute. The dominant penalty kill survived the five-on-three situation.
It was highlighted by Swayman stopping Steven Stamkos on a point-blank chance. The Bruins got into more penalty trouble later in the middle frame when Pastrnak went off for roughing.
Tampa cashed in when Nick Paul redirected a shot from the point past Swayman with just 0:30 left in the period. That gave the Bolts a 2-1 lead. Tampa Bay dominated in the middle frame, pouring the pressure on and accumulating a ton of zone time.
Third Period and Overtime
The third period was total mayhem. There were three goals scored in a span of just over three minutes. It started with David Pastrnak tying the game 2-2 on a bullet from up top. Then, 1:21 later, Boston took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Johnny Beecher, but Tampa answered 0:57 afterward.
Austin Watson beat Swayman down low to tie the game 3-3. The Bruins retook the lead with just under four minutes to go when Charlie Coyle beat Jonas Johansson, making it 4-3. Boston was outshot 14 to four in the third period, and Tampa again dominated. If not for Swayman making 41 saves, the Bruins should have never been in the game.
It looked like the Black and Gold would hang on for the win, but Tampa tied it with five seconds left. It started after Victor Headman barely kept the puck in and got it down low, where Stamkos tied it 4-4. The game went into overtime, and the Lightning had the only shot. It was a Brandon Hagel breakaway, and he beat Swayman five-hole for a 5-4 victory.
Up Next
Next, the Bruins will head to Sunrise to play the Florida Panthers on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Then they’ll return home to play the first half of a back-to-back against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden on Black Friday for a 1:00 p.m. puck drop.
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