Takeaways From The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Performance Over The Boston Bruins — 10/13/2025

For a double holiday Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning visited TD Garden in Boston against the Bruins, where they picked up their first win of the season, 4-3. Before going head-to-head against the Bruins, the Bolts were 0-2 and dropped dead last in the standings after a two-game home stretch didn’t go their way. But for a Canadian Thanksgiving afternoon, the Bolts sought to grab their first win of the season and clean out their slump. Here are some takeaways from that game.

Change of Lines, Kucherov On The Downward Drop

During this game against the Bruins, head coach Jon Cooper changed up the lines. Most significantly, Jake Guentzel was dropped to the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Gage Goncalves. But perhaps that would pay off in good favour for the Bolts, as the new lineup opened the scoring and scored again in the first period from Cirelli.

However, the top line looked nowhere close to where it needed to be. Nikita Kucherov just didn’t look like the MVP title holder. He only had one shot on goal, a giveaway, and a turnover in 19 minutes of ice time. Perhaps it’s just bad jitters, and he’ll find his A-game again soon.

Turnovers Strike The Lightning Again

In 60 minutes of play, the Bolts had 21 giveaways compared to 16 for the Bruins. The second period was a collapse for the Lightning. Too many giveaways in the o-zone created too many grade-A chances for the Bruins, as they scored back-to-back in the second and nearly tied the score. Luckily for the Bolts, they managed to hold off the Bruins with a one-goal lead in the third. But they still struggled to win key faceoffs in their own end during the two-minute mark when the Bruins pulled Joonas Korpisalo.