TAMPA — When it comes to these outdoor games that the National Hockey League stages every year, the accompanying extravaganza can overshadow the game itself.
But at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, both the show and the hockey game were equally satisfying. Unless you’re a Bruins fan.
A goalie fight, a furious comeback, playoff-caliber physicality and a slew of penalties (mostly on the Bruins) were all part of a wildly entertaining game in which the B’s blew a four-goal lead. In the end, Jake Guentzel was the only goal-scorer in the shootout to lift the Lightning over the B’s, 6-5. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who fought Jeremy Swayman earlier in the game, stopped David Pastrnak to end it as his shot hit the post.
If you told the B’s, who were missing their top two centermen (Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha), that they’d get a point out of this game beforehand, they might have been pleased with that. But losing this way left a mark.
“That hurts. It hurts a lot,” said Charlie McAvoy, who had two assists but took a second-period roughing penalty that started the fatal parade to the box. “The way that we lost it is just brutal, spending half the game in penalty box.”
The Bruins built a 5-1 lead early in the second period before the Tampa Bay Lightning scored three straight power-play goals in the second — two of which were on 5-on-3s — to make it a one-goal lead late in the second period.
At that point, the equalizer felt inevitable, and it came at 11:50 of the third period on a Nikita Kucherov one-timer from the left circle.
Then things got really bizarre. In OT, Pastrnak thought he’d scored the game-winner when his slapper beat Vasilevskiy but he had been called for slashing, only no one had heard the whistle — because there wasn’t one until Pastrnak had raised his hands in victory. The ref’s arm was up and the B’s had possession, but the whistle didn’t blow. Swayman had even headed to the bench for an extra attacker, understandably assuming the call was on Tampa.
“I have no clue what happened,” said Pastrnak. “It’s a freakin’ turnover, we’ve got a 2-on-1, the referee has his arm up, he’s letting me go, Sway’s going to the bench, we finished the play, score a goal and all of a sudden I’m in the penalty box. It’s a joke. I don’t understand. I’ve never seen something like that. To me it was a joke. I don’t care if that’s a bad answer, but that’s how I feel. It’s weird. Score a goal and end up in the penalty box. Whatever. We gave them two points and that’s what matters. Tough on us.”
Coach Marco Sturm didn’t want to let his team off the hook but he wasn’t thrilled with the officiating.
“We all have good days, we all have bad days,” said Sturm. “I have to look at some of the calls. I know some of them were not in our favor, I can tell you that. But we do have to a do a better job, and they probably have to do a better job, too. Again, overall, I don’t blame them. It always comes back to us and if you give a guy like Kucherov 10 minutes on the power play, you did something wrong. So that’s on us.”
The B’s were able to kill it and then Swayman stopped Kucherov on a clean breakaway with 28.9 seconds left in OT. The B’s then gave Tampa their seventh straight power play when Hampus Lindholm was called for holding with 24.7 seconds left. But the B’s were able to kill that one off, too, to get it to the shootout.
There, the Bolts prevailed.
David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins attempts a shot against Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning as Erik Cernak defends during the second period of the 2026 NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium on February 01, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
This one started with a bang.
The fake fog from the nautical-themed pre-game spectacle had barely lifted by the time the B’s found themselves by a goal.
Just 11 seconds into the game, Brandon Hagel beat Swayman over the blocker for the quick 1-0 Lightning lead and the 64,617 in attendance erupted. It was their last opportunity to cheer for the rest of the period.
The B’s, who would have a 20-8 shot advantage in the first period, ripped off the next three goals to a 3-1 lead into the first break.
First, Alex Steeves, who had been a healthy scratch in the two previous games, got the B’s on the board at 11:24, breaking a 15-game goal-less streak that dated back to Dec. 23. Mikey Eyssimont carried the puck down low on the left wing and then found Steeves in the slot for a one-timer and ninth of the season.
The B’s then took a two-goal lead on a couple of tips.
At 15:36, Charlie McAvoy fired a shot from the boards that Morgan Geekie was able to deflect past Vasilevskiy for his 31st.
Then on the Lightning’s third minor of the period, a Guentzel trip of Matt Poitras, the B’s cashed in on the power play. After Vasilevskiy had robbed him on a previous chance, Viktor Arvidsson deflected home another McAvoy shot for his 14th of the year.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper, dressed in a kind of Tony Montana-style white suit and fedora, took a long look at it, but Arvidsson’s tip was legal and he declined to challenge.
To make matters worse for Tampa was the loss of Anthony Cirelli, who took a hard hit from Mark Kastelic late in the first and did not return for the second period. But the Lightning would stage a penalty-fueled comeback and get back to within striking distance.
But first, the B’s stretched the lead to 4-1 at the 2:22. Poitras, who just a few days ago thought he’d be paying the Charlotte Checkers, scored his first of the year on a pretty goal. In his second NHL game of the season, Poitras took a feed from Kastelic and roofed a backhander past Vasilevskiy.
With Tampa pressing to get back in the game, the Bolts coughed up an odd-man rush to the wrong line. Marat Khusnutdinov dished up to Pastrnak at the left side of the blue line and Pastrnak had a 2-on-1 with Geekie. He carried the puck toward the circle before dishing to Geekie for the one-timer goal at 8:18.
But the B’s – and the refs – gave the Bolts some life. McAvoy was called for roughing and on the ensuing power play, Oliver Bjorkstand lifted the puck over a prone Swayman at 10:28. After the goal, Kastelic gave Bjorkstrand a shove and Guentzel came down to go at Kastelic for a shoving match. Stunningly, Kastelic was the only player to go to the box.
“We didn’t have our composure. It started with Charlie’s penalty there and they were just better than us after the whistle,” said Sturm. “I don’t think they were better than us today, hockey-wise, but they were better than us after the whistle. They’re not tougher than us but they did a better and we lost our composure a little bit and it cost us, unfortunately, a point. That’s something we have to learn. They’re a veteran group over there and they’ve been through it a number of times. And we’re not. So hopefully we learned something today.”
Then all hell broke loose. On the Tampa PP, Hagel jammed at a puck in Swayman’s pads. The goalie took major umbrage and decked Hagel, with McAvoy also jumping on the Bolt. As that was going on, Vasilevskiy skated toward the Boston end and, to the delight of the crowd, we had a goalie fight. Once the two netminders had gotten their respective gear off — and Swayman extricated Hagel’s stick from his left pad — they locked up. Vasilevskiy, a lefty, landed more shots than the righty Swayman before Swayman lost his balance and it ended quickly. It was obvious neither goalie was an experienced pugilist, but the crowd didn’t mind, nor did the players.
The B’s survived that PP but they weren’t done making it hard on themselves when they took three straight minors. The first two, a Swayman delay and Tanner Jeannot interference, gave the Bolts a 5-on-3 for 1:48. They were 19 seconds away from killing off the Swayman minor when Sean Kuraly was called for closing his hand on the puck, seconds after he felt he was tripped.
On the first 5-on-3, Darren Raddysh scored on a slapper to get the Bolts to within two goals at 15:50. And then their next 5-on-3 kicked in. Twenty-three seconds later, Nick Paul pulled the Bolts to within a goal. Tampa was in business going into the third.
And as the Bolts have done quite often this season, they found a way to close the deal.