One Big Takeaway As Special Teams Set Tone To Push Lightning Past Bruins

The Boston Bruins began a three-game stretch against Florida teams with a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Thursday night’s contest at Amalie Arena.

Boston fell to 20-19-5 while Tampa Bay improved to 22-15-2.

The teams squared off in Tampa for the first time since the announcement of their battle in the 2026 NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium. For now, the teams took the normal indoor ice for a game as Boston looked to reset the waves in the new year.

Special teams took center stage with the Bruins fighting to stop a five-game losing streak

Boston walked the tight rope in the first period with two early penalties. The penalty kill unit eliminated both chances in a statement against the fourth-best power play unit in the sport. The Bruins killed another one in the second period before Boston watched its own opportunity vanish.

Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel won a puck battle over Mason Lohrei with Boston on the power play. Lohrei got his stick on Hagel’s to deflect the shot. Anthony Cirelli walked a red-carpet to rebound the puck and beat Jeremy Swayman over his right shoulder to start the scoring for the Lightning. That opened momentum against the Bruins as Michael Eyssimont fired a wrist shot that beat Swayman on the same side and doubled the lead before the second period came to close.

The Bruins offered a response in the third period when Lohrei snapped back from his defensive skid with a dotted shot to cut the Lightning lead in half. Boston could not complete the comeback as talented goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall in a one-goal game and Hagel added an insurance goal on an empty-netter.

After a strong special teams start against an elite power-play unit, the Bruins could not recover from the momentum-changing goal in the second period.

The Bruins return to action Saturday afternoon for matinee action against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. Puck drop at Amerant Bank Arena is set for 1 p.m. ET. You can catch the game on ABC.