The Tampa Bay Lightning secured their first victory of the young season in a high-octane 4-3 road win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday afternoon. Forward Anthony Cirelli was the catalyst, scoring twice in the first period to stake the Bolts to a crucial lead.
Cirelli, who had been held pointless in the season’s first two games, exploded for two even-strength goals, the first just 1:09 into the game and the second at 13:16. Both goals were set up by primary assists from Jake Guentzel (now with four assists on the season) and secondary assists from Gage Goncalves, giving the Lightning a 2-0 advantage after one period.
Cirelli’s pair marked his 67th career multi-point game, tying him with Freddy Modin for 13th in franchise history, and his 13th multi-goal game, tying Alex Killorn for 12th.
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The Lightning continued their quick-strike offense in the second period, scoring just 39 seconds in on a back-door tap-in from Yanni Gourde off a feed from Pontus Holmberg, extending the lead to 3-0. However, the Bruins immediately answered, with Cole Mittelstadt scoring a minute later to break Jonas Johansson’s shutout bid.
Pontus Holmberg quickly restored the three-goal cushion, tallying his first goal as a Bolt at 3:37 of the second period—just two minutes after assisting on Gourde’s goal. Holmberg’s goal proved to be the game-winner, the fourth of his career.
Despite the 4-1 deficit, the Bruins pushed back, with goals from John Harris and Morgan Geekie closing the gap to 4-3 before the end of the second period. The Bruins outshot the Lightning 33-23 for the game, including a 10-5 margin in the third period, but Tampa Bay’s penalty kill was perfect (5-for-5), and goaltender Jonas Johansson stood tall, making 30 saves to earn the victory and remain undefeated (2-0-0) against Boston in his NHL career.
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Rookie defenseman Max Crozier registered his third assist over the last two games, while JJ Moser made his season debut after serving a two-game suspension, picking up an assist on the Gourde goal. Oliver Bjorkstrand extended his season-opening point streak to three games with an assist on Holmberg’s winner.
The win moves the Lightning to 1-2-0 on the season. They have a quick turnaround, heading to Washington D.C. to take on the Capitals tomorrow night at 7:00 pm EST.
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