Bruins Notes: Boston Needs Morale Change Amid Grueling Losing Streak
The Boston Bruins need somewhere to turn in a remarkably frustrating stretch of the season.
Boston’s 4-1 loss to the Lightning Tuesday night kept the team winless in 2025. A disgruntling six-game losing streak has Joe Sacco’s team playing a frustrated brand of hockey in need of a momentum change.
The Bruins took steps to that Thursday night but could not complete the full 60-minute performance. Boston earned two kills against a top-5 power-play unit in the league. That’s before an advantageous bounce off the boards set the Lightning up to net four goals over the final 34 minutes of the game.
“Right now, they’re not feeling great about themselves,” Boston head coach Joe Sacco told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “Neither are we. No one wants to lose in this league. You’re in this profession to win hockey games and get results. We’re not getting them right now. I thought the guys showed some determination in the third again. It’s a good hockey game. We killed off some penalties early in the game.”
Boston needs to start with multiple firsts in 2025. A first full 60-minute effort. A first clean performance with positive special teams friends and eventually, a first win. The Bruins sit just one game behind Tampa Bay after the loss and hold the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference. Boston needs a momentum-swinging response before the standings grow even bleaker.
“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot time and time again,” Boston center Morgan Geekie told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “I feel like lots of these mistakes are kind of self-appointed. We gotta figure it out un this room. We got guys that can do that. I believe in each and every one of the guys in this room. … It’s unacceptable at this level at this time of year. Frustration’s gonna keep growing if we don’t clean things up.”
Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Lightning game:
— The Bruins stretched their losing streak to six games for the first time since 2015 when Boston had three such streaks, per NESN’s Gayle Troiani.
— Boston’s Mark Kastelic and Tampa Bay’s Emil Lilleberg, who also received a major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking, dropped the gloves in the final five seconds of the game to conclude the Lightning win.
Bruins forward Justin Brazeau led a scuffle with several players involved as the final buzzer sounded. Boston took several minutes as verbal jabbing continued before finally exiting the bench after the game.
— The Bruins scored one goal or less for the third time in five games since the calendar flipped to 2025. Boston did score four goals in each of the other two games.
— Boston and Tampa Bay meet three more times this season, including another stop in Florida in March.
— Mason Lohrei scored the lone goal on the night for the Bruins. It marked just his second goal of the season and his first since Oct. 14 against the Florida Panthers.
— The Bruins return to action Saturday afternoon for matinee action against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. Puck drop at Amerant Bank Arena is set for 1 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.