Everything was going well for the Boston Bruins. The Coach Marco Sturm-led squad had a two-goal lead at the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, Nikita Kucherov sparked a scoring barrage which carried the Florida team’s momentum up to a shootout. What happened next? Well, it became a historic Stadium Series game — the team from Massachusetts just happened to be on the losing end of it.
Coach Sturm did not mince words
It was clear that the Bruins had a chokehold over this Stadium Series game. They had five goals entering the third period but it was just not fate. The Lightning were relentless in looking for the back of the net. By the end of it all, Jeremy Swayman had to defend against 46 shots on goal while allowing five goals to get past him. Everything just collapsed for Coach Sturm.
The Bruins head coach had an interesting perspective on this Stadium Series loss to the Lightning. He made a very critical comment about how Boston ended up losing in a shootout, via David Satriano of NHL.com.
“The way the game went, we just didn’t have our composure I would say. They were just better than us after the whistles. I don’t think they were better than us today hockeywise, I thought they were better than us after the whistles,” Sturm said.
The Lightning ran their offense through Kucherov who got a goal on eight attempts while also dishing out three assists. This Stadium Series loss obviously stung for the Bruins but no one felt it more than Morgan Geekie.
“We know they are a great team over there and to get out to the lead we did, when we did, being in control of the game and just hand it right back to them, especially in our division and what we are playing for right now, just adds to the volume of everything. This one stings for sure,” the Bruins center said.
Geekie was the living offensive engine of the Bruins against the Lightning. He notched two goals on just three shot attempts alongside an assist. Alex Steeves and Viktor Arvidsson were able to help take some of the offensive load off Geekie’s shoulders but it was just not enough. After the second period, the Bruins were not able to score in the third period, overtime, and shootout.
Due to this loss, Sturm’s Bruins are now in danger of sliding down the fifth seed of the Atlantic Division. Will they be able to retain their position through a win against the Florida Panthers before the Milano Cortina Olympics?
