Cole Koepke scored twice, and Jeremy Swayman stopped all 26 shots he faced as the Boston Bruins upended the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0. The loss snapped the Bolts’ seven-game winning streak at home.
Boston entered the game without their captain of the past two seasons, Brad Marchand. Marchand was traded to the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline Friday. The move didn’t affect the Bruins negatively, as they outperformed the Lightning in nearly every facet of the game this afternoon.
Boston played an impressive neutral zone game, limiting Tampa Bay’s chances of entering the Bruins’ zone. Swayman stopped several key opportunities the Lightning did have throughout the game.
Boston’s hard work and determination finally paid off halfway through the second period. Casey Mittelstadt stole the puck on a Nick Perbix pass and got a shot off on Bolts’ netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy made the initial save against Mittelstadt. However, Vasilevskiy lost track of the puck long enough for Cole Koepke to knock the puck in.
“We were definitely sloppy with the puck on our stick,” Ryan McDonagh noted. “Turnovers were at an all time high for us in the season, but in the end, we got outworked.”
Bruins create opportunities, Bolts squander
The Bruins’ upbeat tempo continued on into the third period. Boston scored again when Mark Kastelic send a puck into the Lighting zone and past Vasilevskiy to make it 2-0.
Yeah, we’ll take it. pic.twitter.com/PPVb0nqMhp
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 8, 2025
“The second goal sums the whole game up,” Tampa Bay Head Coach Jon Cooper said. “They were offside. It (the puck) hits them, but the refs don’t blow it. Then they tag up so it’s not offsides anymore.”
“They shoot it, it hits off our stick, and bounces in. That was pretty much 60 minutes of tonight.”
Tampa bay had opportunities themselves. Brandon Hagel missed a wide open net when his shot went off Swayman’s stick and hit the crossbar. Oliver Bjorkstand also had a shot go off a post in the second period that would have changed the complexion of the game.
Swayman handled every other Tampa Bay shot and earned his third shutout of the season.
Lightning outplayed, outmatched
Whereas the Lightning could overcome challenges against Buffalo on Thursday night, they were unable to do so against the Bruins. In the end, Boston simply played a much better game than the Lightning. By controlling the neutral zone and the backcheck, the Bruins’ limited Tampa Bay’s chances.
“They just played harder than us, I think,” Hagel said afterwards. “They just outworked us. That is basically the bottom line.”
“I don’t think that is anywhere near Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, and everyone in this room knows it.”
After not being held scoreless for 113 straight games, the Lightning have been shutout twice in the past 16 games. They were shutout by Detroit on January 25th, 2-0.
Following the game, the Lightning’s focus turned to learning from this afternoon and moving on to Tuesday night against Carolina.
“We can’t get these points back. We can’t look through the rear view mirror,” Cooper said. “We’ve got to look straight ahead.”
“We’ve got a proud group here. So, I’m not worried about these guys.”
Hagel looked at the cameras in the locker room and added the most poingant thought of the night:
“Obviously, there is a lot of stuff to learn from it (the game). But at the same time, you have to turn the page. We are still chasing something. We are a really good hockey team in here.”
“At the end of the day, we have to show them how we play.”
Three Stars of the Game
1. Jeremy Swayman, Boston. Stopped all 26 shots he faced. He managed to get all the bounces to go his way with an excellent performance.
2. Cole Koepke, Boston. The former Bolt came back to Tampa with a dagger in hand, scoring twice with four hits.
3. Casey Mittlestadt, Boston. Mittlestadt made key plays in two of Boston’s goals, including the game winner.
Up Next
The Tampa Bay Lightning will play three games on the road, starting with a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
