The Bruins dominated the first half of this game on both ends of the ice and looked well on their way to an exciting victory over the Atlantic Division leading Tampa Bay Lightning, but all went wrong in the back half and the Bruins dropped a sure 2 points. This game had it all and from an NHL perspective, minus the bizarre intro, it was everything the league could’ve asked for. 11 seconds in Bradon Hagel’s snapshot beat Swayman top right as the Lightning jumped out to the lead. Unfortunately for the Lightning I think the goal was too early, no one had made it to their seats yet, and therefore the crowd didn’t back them as much as they should’ve early. The Bruins responded with some of the best 2-way hockey they’ve played this season. Two recent healthy scratches, Michael Eyssimont and Alex Steeves connected on the first Bruins goal as Eyssimont found Steeves in the slot pocket who was able to release a quick shot by Andrei Vasilevskiy. A little later in the first Morgan Geekie tipped home a Charlie McAvoy shot to get his 31st goal of the season, and give the Bruins the lead. Victor Arvidsson does the same, tipping home a McAvoy shot just over 2 minutes later on the Bruins power-play to take a 3-1 lead going into the second period.

Matt Poitras gets his first goal of the season for the big club after being called up to replace Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm who are both out with injuries. Poitras who has looked solid at the NHL level in his 2 games so far, lifted a back hand to the top corner and extended the Bruins lead to 3. Morgan Geekie got his second of the game, with assists from David Pastrnak and Marat Khustidinov and the Bruins jump to a dominant 5-1 lead. That’s when the penalties began to start up. A McAvoy roughing call led to a Oliver Bjorkstrand goal, which immediately led to a Mark Kastelic roughing penalty. Though he may have started the altercation, only taking Kastelic from the melee was unfortunate for the Bruins. Back on the power-play, Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov took a slap shot that was saved and covered by Swayman. Brandon Hagel being the pest he is, reaches his stick between the pads of Swayman who took exception and leveled Hagel with a blocker shot. Vasilevskiy down the other end watching Swayman beat up on his player takes a stroll out to center ice looking for a scrap and Swayman answered the call. Giving up some serious height and weight Swayman holds his own in the first NHL outdoor goalie fight. Looking for a little added entertainment factor to their big night the NHL refs stepped aside and let them go, a rarity, but players for both teams were excited to see their goalies scrap. When the dust settled and the game resumed, Swayman took his 3rd penalty of the period (leaving the crease, fighting, delay of game) as he batted a puck over the glass. Tanner Jeannot felt left out and he took down Jake Guentzel off a face off and out the Bruins down 2 men. That wasn’t enough though, as Sean Kuraly makes a bone head move covering the puck and is sent off as well. Providing substantial 5 on 3 time to the Lightning they finally capitalized with two goals in quick succession to cut the Bruin’s lead to just 1.

The Bruins just couldn’t find their way back to what had made them successful in the first half and it was only a matter of time in the third before Kucherov and the Lightning tied the game at 5. So overtime we go, and the Bruins fall victim to yet another call, and this one particularly brutal after the referee failed to blow the play dead when the Bruins touched the puck, so of course they went down and scored, but it was called back for a penalty several seconds ago. The Bruins kill it off, but can’t find their own answer in overtime so the game heads to a shootout. Jake Guentzel beat his future team USA teammate, Swayman high to the glove side, and in an attempt to answer, David Pastrnak rings the post and out. Bruins lose.

It’s not secret the Bruins have a penalty problem, and it will continue to plague them especially in big games that await them after the Olympic break. Though it was entertaining to have Swayman out there fighting, it was clearly advantageous to the more disciplined Lightning. The Bruins parade to the penalty box obviously lost them this game, and while I think there were several missed calls on the Lighting especially in the 2nd part of this game, the Bruins have to find sustained discipline and stay out of the box. Already a weak penalty kill at just 77%, 27th out of the 32 NHL teams. There is potential for this team to be a real threat leading into the postseason as they are a physical, hard nosed, tough to play against team that has consistently found answers to their lack of scoring talent through players stepping up at the right times, but if this penalty issue continues it will lead to an early Mexico vacation come April.