By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
Earlier this afternoon, the Boston Bruins squared off against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. Boston, who was looking to improve to 4-0-0, and Tampa Bay, who was looking to bounce back after dropping their first two games of the season (0-2-0), faced off for the first time in what would be a four-part season series.
The Bruins started with the same lineup on both forward and defense, with Jordan Harris still slotting in for Hampus Lindholm, who is listed as day-to-day, and Joonas Korpisalo getting the net for the Bruins. Jonas Johansson would get his first start of the 2025-26 season for Tampa Bay, with Andrei Vasilevski backing him up.
First Period
The first period was not the best for Boston, as it resulted in a 2-0 deficit against Tampa Bay. The Bruins weren’t without their chances, but ultimately weren’t able to get anything past Johansson. They had the edge in shots, however, outshooting the Lightning 11-9.
The Bruins struggled in their own zone, with a lot of turnovers, one of which resulted in Anthony Cirelli’s second of the game. Another area of struggle, also in the Bruins’ own zone, was getting the puck out with a clean breakout. Several instances of fumble puck and the Bruins just unable to connect on passes resulted in the failure to gain momentum heading into the Lightning’s zone.
The Bruins were able to force Tampa Bay to make some mistakes, which resulted in a couple chances for Boston. If there Bruins want to compete in this game, there are several things that are going to need to change heading into the second and third period.
Second Period
The Bruins didn’t start the second period any better than they finished the first, allowing Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde to increase their lead to three. This time around, the Bruins answered right away. Casey Mittelstadt, off a pass from Pavel Zacha, puts one passed Jonas Johansson, cutting Tampa Bay’s lead to two goals.
Tampa Bay would immediately answer, regaining the three goal lead before a 2-on-1 with Jordan Harris and Pavel Zacha would head up ice. Harris surveyed and opted to take the shot, which would prove to be the right play as he put Boston’s second goal past Johansson, which was also his first as a Bruin and second point in two games.
Things started to improve for Boston after tallying a couple of goals, as they’d find themselves on the power play a couple of times, and despite not getting anything on the scoresheet, they created some chances which turned into momentum, as they’d add a third tally in the second period thanks to a ripper from Morgan Geekie off Pavel Zacha’s faceoff win.
Third Period
The Bruins certainly had the best start to the third period of all three played today. The first and second periods of this game were rather flat to start for Boston, and the third they had a different approach. The score of this game didn’t go as back-and-forth as the first two periods did, but the play certainly did.
Some back-and-forth power plays and penalty kills for both sides didn’t result in a goal for either team, as both teams’ penalty kill units were perfect throughout the entire game and all goals came at even-strength.
That “no quit” attitude continued in the third period, and it was obvious that the Bruins wanted to do whatever it took to try and even this game and send things into overtime. Not one player wearing the Spoked B laid down and quit, and most notably of all players was David Pastrnak.
Saving an empty net goal to give the Bruins the best possible chance, playing the body against Nikita Kucherov, and several late attempts to tie things up. The Bruins did all that they could, but were just unable to find that last goal. Mason Lohrei was extremely noticeable in his efforts to find the back of the net, moving the puck extremely well and trying to generate offense from the blue line.
Final Thoughts
While it certainly wasn’t the start that they wanted, the second and third periods were much more competitive for Boston. Through all three periods, the Bruins outshot the Lightning. They won 70% of face offs, going 42/60 through three periods, and they put up a fair amount of chances to try and get ahead of things, but they just couldn’t find the tying goal.
There are some very clear differences between the 2024-25 Boston Bruins and 2025-26 Boston Bruins, and that’s the 2025-26 Boston Bruins inability to roll over and quit. They were down by three at several different times this game, and they didn’t quit. They want to battle for every point they can, and it shows.
The Bruins have the next two days off, as they head out west this afternoon for match ups against Vegas on Thursday, Colorado on Saturday, and Utah on Sunday.
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