Bruins suffer first loss of season, 4-3, to Lightning

The Bruins evidenced plenty of gumption but they could not outhustle their mistakes on Monday at the Garden The B s had their chances to complete a comeback from a three-goal deficit incurred by a series of their own miscues but they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning - suffering their first loss of the young season Entering the third period down a goal the B s pushed hard in the third period but could not get the equalizer They now head out for a tough three-game road trip to Vegas Colorado and Utah The B s had chosen brutal puck management issues to start the championship that would contribute to a - deficit Jake Guentzel created two turnovers that led to both goals On the first one the high-scoring winger picked Charlie McAvoy s pocket at the Boston blue line and the Bolts went on a quick counter-attack that resulted in an Anthony Cirelli tap-in off a Gage Goncalves pass just into the battle Cirelli s first of two in the period At they doubled the lead after Nikita Zadorov s breakout pass attempt from behind his net landed on Guentzel s tape just inside the B s blue line That eventually led to a Cirelli roof shot past Joonas Korpisalo from the top of the crease for his second of the event The B s weren t wholly outplayed in the first period In fact they held an - shot advantage Their best chance came late when a McAvoy off-wing slapshot produced a fat rebound for David Pastrnak but with half the net at which to shoot the puck bounced over his blade The second period turned into a track meet with four goals scored in the first And there was more sloppiness from the Bruins The Bolts took a - lead just seconds in Andrew Peeke tried to carry the puck up the boards on his off side but after Mike Eyssimont left the zone anticipating a pass the puck rolled off Peeke s stick and J J Moser stepped up to send it back into the zone With the B s scrambling Yanni Gourde had a wide open net for the - goal The B s decisively got on the board seconds later when Casey Mittelstadt beat Jonas Johansson with a sharp wrister on a -on- off the rush Tampa benefited from a non-call when Pontus Holmberg held McAvoy as the Bruin defenseman was retrieving a puck in his own zone The Bolts controlled the puck and Holmberg would eventually come back out front for another easy goal at To their credit the B s kept coming Jordan Harris cut the deficit to two again when he kept the puck on a -on- and beat Johansson with a shortside wrist shot Erik Cernak had stepped up the blue line but a good short pass from Pastrnak sent Harris on his way Then on a -on- the B s made it a encounter again when off a Pavel Zacha faceoff win Morgan Geekie sneaked a snapshot through a crowd and past Johansson at The B s nearly tied it up on an otherwise sloppy power play when Mason Lohrei chimed the crossbar but they went into the third down a goal The B s had a chance to even it up when Goncalves tripped Viktor Arvidsson at of the third but they could not capitalize