‘That Hurts A Lot:’ Bruins Blow Four-Goal Lead, Lose in Stadium Series

TAMPA, FL – “That hurts, that hurts a lot,” Charlie McAvoy said, and there was no better way to describe a night where the Bruins watched a four-goal lead disappear in the 2026 NHL Stadium Series. 

Morgan Geekie (32) scored twice, while Alex Steeves (9), Viktor Arvidsson (14), and Matt Poitras (1) also scored for the Boston Bruins (32-20-4), but it was not enough, as the Tampa Bay Lightning (35-14-4) clawed back from a four-goal deficit for the first time in franchise history, picking up a 6-5 shootout win at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday. 

The outdoor game featured a goalie fight, but that was overshadowed by the Lightning’s comeback. 

“That hurts, that hurts a lot,” Charlie McAvoy said after the game. “The way that we lost it is just brutal. We spent half of the game in the penalty box.”

Brandon Hagel scored 11 seconds into the game. His goal is the fastest in NHL outdoor game history. 

It only took the Bruins a few minutes to respond, and it was their new-look fourth line. Mikey Eyssimont set up Alex Steeves in the slot. Steeves buried the puck to the left of Andrei Vasilevskiy to tie the game 11 minutes later. The goal marked Steeves’ first tally since December 23. 

Shortly after the first Bruins goal, they jumped out to a lead. Charlie McAvoy steered a shot from the point, and Morgan Geekie connected with a redirection. The deflection dropped the puck through the Lightning goalie’s pads and narrowly crossed the goal line. 

Then, the Bruins expanded their lead on the power play. Viktor Arvidsson, in a similar style to Geekie, redirected Charlie McAvoy’s shot behind Vasilevskiy.  

The Bruins skated to a 3-1 lead after the first 20 minutes. They had a 20-8 advantage in shots and connected on one of their three power plays. 

At that point, the Bruins were in full control. That only continued as the second period started. 

At the 2:22 mark of the second period, Matt Poitras tallied his first goal of the season. The Bruins’ prospect took a feed from Mark Kastelic and beat Vasilevskiy high with a backhand shot. 

“Obviously, it felt good, it was a cool experience and a crazy atmosphere,” Poitras said about his goal. “Obviously, rather come with a win.” 

The Bruins continued to press, breaking into the offensive zone with a two-on-one chance. David Pastrnak played the cross-ice feed to Morgan Geekie, who scored his second goal of the night on a one-timer. 

Two minutes later, Oliver Bjorkstrand capitalized on the power play. 

Then, pandemonium broke out after a whistle. Brandon Hagel dug his stick into Jeremy Swayman’s equipment, and the Bruins’ goalie stood up for himself. Swayman knocked Hagel to the ground and followed up with a blocker-punch to Hagel.

Swayman got up, looked across the ice, and took off. Andrei Vasilevskiy met him at the Bruins’ blue line, and after Swayman reminded him to take his mask off, the two engaged in a fight.  

WATCH: Jeremy Swayman fights Andrei Vasilevskiy at the Stadium Series

“I think, you know, fighting the biggest, toughest goalie in the league, so [he] wouldn’t be my first choice,” Swayman said about the fight. “Glad we got the first one out of the way. Probably retired after that.”

Vasilevskiy won the goalie fight, and momentum started to swing. The two goalies hugged it out after the game. 

However, three minutes later, the Bruins found themselves in penalty trouble. 

Swayman took a delay of game minor, followed by a Tanner Jeannot interference minor. Then, while the Bruins were playing three-on-five, Sean Kuraly closed his hand on the puck and was called for a minor penalty.

“When they had a five-on-three for like eight minutes,” Charlie McAvoy said when asked what changed the momentum of the game. 

The Lightning scored twice on their long power play, cutting the Bruins’ three-goal lead into a one-goal lead. 

“It just killed our momentum,” Charlie McAvoy said. “It just killed the game, really. Like, it was a good game before that, then we’re in the box for that whole period.”

The Lightning poured 22 shots on Swayman in the second period, with three getting by him.

Swayman finished with 41 saves on 46 shots. 

Nikita Kucherov scored the game-tying goal at the 11:50 mark of the third period. 

The game needed overtime. 

David Pastrnak scored 22 seconds in to negate the comeback, or so we thought. The referees had other ideas. They actually called Pastrnak for a slash, but the Bruins moved their way up the ice and scored on a two-on-one. 

“I have no clue what happened, honestly,” David Pastrnak said. “We got two-on-one, the referee has his arm up, is letting it go, [Swayman] is going to the bench. We finish the play, score a goal, and all of a sudden, I am in the penalty box. So, [it’s a] joke. I don’t understand. I’ve never seen something like that.”

If the referee’s arm is up, the next time a player wearing a gold sweater touches the puck should signify a stoppage. It did not, so the team wearing gold continued down the ice. 

“No, I mean, I think that made us more mad than the calls,” Morgan Geekie said after the game. “Just the fact that [Swayman] was out of the net, and we carried it all the way down the ice, and we scored. Without anyone blowing the whistle. He obviously saw something that none of us did, but we might have been watching two ice sheets, so I don’t know.” 

McAvoy said that the referee came over and said, “Sorry.” David Pastrnak said that the referee told him to “watch it.” Those were the only explanations the Bruins received.

“Listen, we all have good days, we all have bad days,” Marco Sturm said about the officiating. “Again, I have to look at some of the calls. I know that some of them were not in our favor, I can tell you that. We do have to do a better job, and they probably have to do a better job, too.”

Sturm immediately followed up by saying he does not blame the referees and that this comes down to the Bruins. 

The overtime continued, and with 24.7 seconds left, Hampus Lindholm took a hooking penalty. The Lightning did not score on their second man-advantage in overtime. Jeremy Swayman made eight saves in the five-minute extra period; the Bruins did not register a shot (besides the disallowed goal). 

The Bruins lead the league in penalty minutes (752) and penalties taken (279). The Lightning had eight power play opportunities on Sunday night, scoring on three.

Jake Guentzel eventually completed the comeback by scoring the shootout winner. 

“That’s the good thing about those kinds of games, especially when you lose,” Sturm said. “You should learn from it. Sometimes you have to go through those failures. For me, today was one. That shows me we’re just not there yet. We got to learn from it. Got to move on, though.”

“It was just unfortunate, but we will take that point. I’m very, very happy [with] how we are as a team right now.” 

The Bruins have one more game until the Olympic break starts. The team will travel a little further south to Sunrise, Florida, for a matchup against the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers (28-23-3).