BOSTON — The Lightning’s first win of the season was anything but perfect, but in an opening week that already had become a grind they had to overcome a lot in order to salvage a 4-3 victory over the Bruins Monday afternoon at TD Garden.

It went down to the final moments, with Boston on a 5-on-3 in the Tampa Bay zone. The Lightning couldn’t get the puck out, and three icing calls in the final four minutes forced them to win the game in the faceoff circle, where they had been horrendous all day.

But Anthony Cirelli won a defensive-zone faceoff with nine seconds left, and the ensuing clear finally gave Tampa Bay a win and handed Boston its first loss.

“We knew we had to come out hungrier and harder,” Cirelli said. “And for the most part, thought we did. That was a team over there that didn’t quit. They kept coming and coming. And we had to grind there all the way to the end.”

The Lightning (1-2-0) started strong, determined to take control after falling flat in their two season-opening losses, and built two three-goal leads.

They played much better 5-on-5, receiving big contributions from a revamped middle six, with second-line center Cirelli scoring the first two goals and third-line wing Pontus Holmberg netting the winner and a highlight-reel-worthy assist.

But they let the Bruins (3-1-0) back into the game in the second period and clung to a one-goal lead heading to the third.

“There was a lot of winning hockey in there, and the reason we went a little bit of a step back and gave it up [was] because we got away from winning hockey,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “There was so much good about [Monday], and there were a lot of winning habits. We’ve just got to keep shuffling the losing ones out.”

Here are takeaways from the game:

Jumbling lines pays off

Cooper doesn’t hesitate to switch up his lines when things go poorly. Placing first-line left wing Jake Guentzel on the second line with Cirelli and Gage Goncalves while moving Pontus Holmberg up to the third line with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand paid huge dividends. Those lines combined to score all four Lightning goals.

“Gonzo and Guentz, they’re two unbelievable players, and they make so many plays,” Cirelli said. “They’re so skilled, and they know where guys are before it happens. They both made unbelievable plays on those two goals, so it doesn’t happen without them.”

Holmberg, an offseason addition who had been playing on the fourth line, seemed to jell immediately with Gourde and Bjorkstrand. Early in the second period, Holmberg took a pass from J.J. Moser and moved toward the front of the net. But instead of shooting, he took defenseman Jordan Harris with him to the right post, spun and backhanded a pass to Gourde, who scored into an open net to make it 3-0 just 39 seconds into the period.

Less than three minutes later, Holmberg put away a third-chance attempt after Max Crozier’s initial shot bounced out to Bjorkstrand in the slot. Bjorkstrand’s shot hit goaltender Joonas Korpisalo’s left pad and went right to Holmberg at the right post. He scored to give the Lightning a 4-1 lead at 3:37 of the period.

Not your average Game 3

Cooper doesn’t lose his cool often and rarely gets mad at a player on the bench, but he was furious when defenseman Erik Cernak’s ill-timed pinch led to a 2-on-1 the other way that Harris buried to make it 4-2 less than two minutes after Holmberg’s goal.

Cernak didn’t have any forward support when he pressured David Pastrnak at the blue line, and Pastrnak got a pass off to Harris for the breakaway with only Ryan McDonagh back. There was little goaltender Jonas Johansson (30 saves on 33 shots) could do about it.

Cooper had seen his team give away too many scoring chances off the rush in the first two games, and the play clearly set him off: “Cerny would be the first to tell you, probably a tough pinch on his part,” Cooper said.

Faceoff futility makes it a grind

One of the big reasons the Lightning let the Bruins back into the game was because their inability to win faceoffs negated their ability to possess the puck. Tampa Bay won just 21% (7-for-33) of its faceoffs in the first two periods and ended the game at 32% (19-for-60). To make matters worse, the Lightning were won just 25% (7-for-28) of their defensive-zone faceoffs.

“I know I was terrible, and I’ve got to be better,” Cirelli said. “It’s an onus on the centers; we’ve just got to be better. That can’t happen. It sucks. It’s such a big part of the game where you never start with the puck when we’re losing draws, and that’s got to be a focus. We’re going to watch some video, and we got to definitely be better in that regard because it’s unacceptable.”

Cirelli was 5-for-24 (21%) on faceoffs, but he won two of his last three when it mattered most. Boston was pushing to tie the game in the final minute with an extra attacker and then had a 5-on-3 advantage after Cernak was whistled for hooking with nine seconds left.

“Everybody looks at faceoffs and goes, ‘It’s on the center,’” Cooper said. “Well, there’s other guys out there, too. And you look at some of these draws, their center’s not stroking them back, too. It’s the guys helping out.”

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/10/14/lightning-hold-off-bruins-to-secure-1st-win-of-season/