{"id":539859,"date":"2026-04-04T05:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T05:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539859\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T05:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T05:59:18","slug":"bruins-aim-to-rebound-against-lightning-after-panthers-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539859\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruins Aim to Rebound Against Lightning After Panthers Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AThe Bruins and Lightning clash in a pivotal late-season matchup as Boston fights to solidify its playoff position.Boston Today<\/p>\n

The Boston Bruins are looking to regroup after a disappointing loss to the Florida Panthers as they prepare to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Bruins currently hold the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, but cannot afford another letdown against the Lightning, who are battling for the division lead.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The Bruins’ playoff positioning is at stake as they try to fend off teams like the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Columbus Blue Jackets in the wild-card race. A win over the Lightning would help Boston solidify its postseason chances, while a loss could allow other clubs to gain ground.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

The Bruins are coming off a 4-2 defeat to the Florida Panthers on Thursday, in which they failed to match the intensity of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions despite the Panthers missing several key players. Boston coach Marco Sturm criticized his team’s lack of respect for the opponent. The Bruins will need to show more focus and determination against the high-powered Lightning, who are led by the offensive exploits of Nikita Kucherov and the stellar goaltending of Andrei Vasilevskiy.<\/p>\n

The Bruins’ loss to the Panthers on Thursday snapped a four-game winning streak.Boston will face the Lightning on Saturday, April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Marco Sturm<\/p>\n

Head coach of the Boston Bruins.<\/p>\n

Morgan Geekie<\/p>\n

Bruins forward who has a team-high 34 goals this season.<\/p>\n

David Pastrnak<\/p>\n

Bruins forward who is trying to reach 100 points for the fourth time in his career.<\/p>\n

Anthony Cirelli<\/p>\n

Lightning forward who recorded a hat trick in the team’s recent win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n

Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/p>\n

Lightning goaltender who leads the NHL in wins this season.<\/p>\n

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\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn’t respect our opponent tonight. They had a lot of guys out, and we didn’t do our job. Shame on us today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Marco Sturm, Head coach, Boston Bruins<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight, it feels like you let everyone down. Had the opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Morgan Geekie, Bruins forward<\/p>\n

\u201cTony deserves that. Every shift he just gives everything, so you love to see guys like that get rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Cooper, Head coach, Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The Bruins will look to bounce back and solidify their playoff positioning when they face the division-leading Lightning on Saturday, April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

The Bruins’ loss to the Panthers highlighted the need for Boston to maintain focus and intensity against all opponents, regardless of who is in or out of the lineup. Their playoff push will be tested against the high-powered Lightning, who are battling for the division title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The Bruins and Lightning clash in a pivotal late-season matchup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5099],"tags":[154,95,5132,530,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-539859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-bruins","8":"tag-boston","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-bostonbruins","11":"tag-bruins","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116344912170059871","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}