Lightning comeback to beat Bruins in historic Stadium Series

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Feb 1, 2026

Published in Hockey

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TAMPA, Fla. — A night that was more than a decade in the making — one that many believed would never happen — was certainly worth the wait.

From the upper deck of Raymond James Stadium, players might have looked like blue and yellow dots for Sunday’s long-awaited Stadium Series game between the Lightning and Bruins, the first outdoor hockey game in Tampa.

As much as this night was a spectacle, the game was an important one in the Atlantic Division standings. Despite winning 16 of their last 18 coming into the night and sitting atop the division, the Lightning hadn’t distanced themselves from the pack, and the Bruins sat as the last of five teams within five points of Tampa Bay.

There was a range of emotions for Lightning fans: exaltation, frustration and excitement.

A number of unexpected left-handed punches from Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy woke up the Lightning and the crowd and turned the momentum in favor of Tampa Bay.

Spurred on by Vasilevskiy’s first NHL flight, the Lightning rallied from a four-goal, second-period deficit to beat Boston 6-5 in a shootout in front of a crowd of 64,617 at Raymond James Stadium.

Vasilevskiy stopped all three shots in the shootout, including a save on Boston forward David Pastrnak as the crowd chanted “Va-sy, Va-sy.”

Jake Guentzel scored the only goal in the shootout, beating Jeremy Swayman over his glove side in the third round.

Despite being outshot 20-8 in the first period, the Lightning returned the favor, outshooting the Bruins 29-14 in the final two periods of regulation.

Nikita Kucherov’s slap shot from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Ryan McDonagh tied the score with 8:10 left in the third period.

The Lightning had two power-play opportunities in the five-minute overtime, and Kucherov had a breakaway that could have ended it, but the Lightning couldn’t end the game in overtime.

The Lightning rallied with just 10 forwards for the final two periods. The Lightning started with an 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup with defenseman Victor Hedman playing in his first game since Dec. 9, then lost center Anthony Cirelli late in the first period with an apparent upper-body injury.

Given how everything was almost too ideal for the Lightning going into their first home outdoor game, maybe the expectations were too high. Since Tampa was awarded a Stadium Series game last year, everyone wondered how it would work in Florida. But a cold spell that dipped through Florida’s Gulf Coast made it so cold — the temperature at puck drop was 41.8 degrees — that the NHL actually had to warm the sheet to prevent the ice from cracking.

After pregame festivities that were comparable to a Super Bowl, Brandon Hagel would have torn the roof off Raymond James if it had one when he scored 11 seconds after puck drop.

But after that, the Lightning played what might have been their worst first period of the season. They were slow, couldn’t get the puck out of their own end and left too many open spots in front for the Bruins, allowing 20 first-period shots, their most in any period this season.

In the second period, Oliver Bjorkstrand’s power-play goal had just cut the Boston lead to 5-2 before the goalie fight and after it, a parade of Bruins to the penalty box opened the door for the Lightning. Swayman flung a puck over the glass with 5:57 left, Tanner Jeannot was whistled for interference 13 seconds later, and Sean Kuraly closed his hand on the puck with 4:15 left in the second.

The Lightning then scored two 5-on-3 goals within a 26-second stretch to suddenly make it a one-goal game. Defenseman Darren Raddysh rifled a 96-mph shot from the center point for his 16th goal of the season, then Nick Paul scored in front on a feed from Guentzel with 3:47 remaining to make it a 5-4 game.

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