3 takeaways from the Boston Bruins’ 4-3 loss to the Lightning – Hockey Writer – Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday at TD Garden in Boston. The Chargers took a sizable lead early, and while the Bruins were able to get within one point, their early deficit proved insurmountable as the Chargers took the game 4-3. Let’s take a look at some highlights from this competition.
Early missteps proved costly
The Bruins committed several turnovers in the first half and the Chargers capitalized on them. The first three goals were the result of Bruins mistakes in the defensive zone, all of which resulted in layups for the visitors. Those mistakes led to the Chargers taking a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter and then a 4-1 lead shortly after the Bruins clawed back.
RELATED: Bruins’ early success signals identity shift under Marco Sturm
Careless mistakes were a recurring issue for the Bruins a season ago, and while they’ve played a pretty clean style of hockey through their first three games of the season, it’s important for them to address these mistakes before they become a recurring issue. Those mistakes, and the resulting early deficit, undermined a very solid offensive performance from up and down the lineup.
Deep contribution
One item circled on the Bruins’ list of needs for 2025-26 is offensive contributions from depth players, and through four games, they look promising in that area. Defender Jordan Harris scored the Bruins’ second goal of the day on a conversion shot off an assist from David Pastrnak. The goal made Harris the 10th Bruins player to score in four games, an encouraging sign for a team that struggled to find offensive output outside of Morgan Giecki and Pastrnak a season ago.
In addition to Harris’ goal, Casey Mittelstadt also scored in the second quarter, his second goal of the season. The goal was assisted by offseason acquisition Viktor Arvidsson and gave him his first point of the season. The addition of Arvidsson makes him the 15th player on the Bruins roster to score in those four games, another impressive number that shows this team is getting offensive contributions from throughout the lineup.
Confrontation advantage
Another bright spot for the Bruins was their performance in the faceoff circle. As of that day, they had a winning percentage of 54% in their head-to-head meetings this season, which ranks 10th in the NHL so far. They improved against the Chargers, winning 41 of 60 games throughout the tournament for a winning percentage of 68%. A win in this category opened up a chance for the Black and Gold, which was promising — Geekie’s wrist shot in the tie cut the Chargers’ lead to one. For a team that needs to find offense wherever possible, continued dominance in the faceoff circle would be an encouraging sight for the Bruins.
first loss
Despite the result, the Bruins showed some positive signs in their first loss of the young season. They dominate the faceoff circle and continue to receive contributions from players not named Pastrnak or Geek. Joonas Korpisalo isn’t great on paper. However, he made several key saves on high-danger chances to keep the Bruins in the game. The Bruins will try to eliminate the careless mistakes they made against the Chargers and build on their season-opening start as they head to the West Coast for their first long road trip of the new season.
