Bruins’ losing streak hits 6 games after road loss to Lightning
The Boston Bruins fell to 20-19-5 on the 2024-25 season after a 4-1 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at Amalie Arena. Boston has now lost six games in a row, their first such losing streak since the 2006-07 season.
The teams played a scoreless, relatively evenly matched first period. At five-on-five, the Lightning out-shot the Bruins 11-9 and held a 5-3 edge in high-danger chances. The B’s narrowly avoided trouble in a pair of shorthanded situations, as the Lightning failed to finish four scoring chances in two power play opportunities.
Goaltender Jeremy Swayman kept the game at 0-0 when he denied Tampa’s Brayden Point on a scoring chance at the doorstep.
Ironically, the Bruins’ surprisingly solid start came undone in the second period when they went on the power play. Pressure from the Lightning forced a turnover and a rush going the other way, and after the initial shot went wide of the net, Anthony Cirelli banged home the second chance to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Just over five minutes later, Tampa’s Michael Eyssimont made it a 2-0 game, this time at even strength. Eyssimont took advantage of Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei collapsing too far down on the backcheck, then beat Swayman short-side for the goal. (WARNING: An especially shrill Dave Mishkin on the call in the below clip.)
Lohrei redeemed himself early in the third period, when he scored his second goal of the season to cut the Lightning lead to 2-1. After receiving an offensive zone pass, Lohrei drifted into the slot area then ripped a hard wrist shot through traffic and past Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for the goal.
The B’s couldn’t find the equalizer, despite out-shooting Tampa 12-7 in the third period. Brandon Hagel scored an empty net goal to put the game away, then Point added a late power-play goal for good measure.
Tempers flared late in regulation, as Tampa’s Emil Lilleberg dropped the gloves with Boston’s Mark Kastelic with just 2.5 seconds left. The officials reviewed the play, then slapped Lilleberg with a major penalty for crosschecking for his actions just before the fight.
Up Next: It’s going to be hard for the Bruins to right the ship in their next game. They’re headed to Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday to take on their nemesis, the Florida Panthers.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
