Bruins Blow 5-1 Lead in Stadium Series Shootout Loss to Lightning, Exposing Ongoing Discipline Issues
In one of the wildest turns of the NHL season, the Boston Bruins let a 5-1 lead slip through their fingers in the 2026 Stadium Series showdown against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Raymond James Stadium, ultimately falling 6-5 in a shootout. What started as a statement game under the Florida sun turned into a cautionary tale about discipline - or lack thereof.
The Bruins gave up the opening goal just 11 seconds in, but quickly flipped the script with five unanswered tallies that had them firmly in control midway through the second period. The momentum was theirs.
The crowd was buzzing. The game felt over.
Then came the penalties. A lot of them.
Boston simply couldn't stay out of the box, and against a team like Tampa Bay - loaded with power-play weapons and no strangers to high-pressure moments - that’s a recipe for disaster. The Lightning cashed in with four straight goals, three of them on the man advantage during a second period that saw Boston hand them an extended 5-on-3 opportunity. That stretch flipped the game on its head and forced overtime, where Tampa eventually sealed the deal in a shootout.
The Bruins were frustrated, and understandably so. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy didn’t mince words postgame: “We had complete control of the game, and then you give a team with that kind of power play a 5-on-3 for I don't even know how long it was, you're just asking for it.”
He’s not wrong. At 5-on-5, Boston was the better team.
They outshot Tampa Bay 26-23, held a 23-16 edge in scoring chances, and led 9-4 in high-danger opportunities. They even outscored the Lightning 4-2 at even strength.
But hockey games aren’t won on 5-on-5 play alone - not when you’re giving up eight power plays and only getting three of your own.
Head coach Marco Sturm echoed the sentiment, pointing to a lack of composure as the turning point. “It started with Charlie’s penalty there,” he said.
“They were just better than us after the whistle. I don’t think they were better than us today hockey-wise.
But they were better than us after the whistle... We just lost our composure a little bit, and it cost us a point, unfortunately.”
This isn’t a one-off issue for Boston. The Bruins have been living in the penalty box all season long.
They lead the NHL with 279 penalties - at least 21 more than any other team - and their minus-49 penalty differential is the worst in the league. That’s not a stat you want to top.
Nikita Zadorov leads the league with 40 penalties, while veteran center Mark Kastelic isn’t far behind with 29, ranking fourth overall. As a team, Boston has been shorthanded 209 times - more than any other club - and their penalty kill has struggled to keep up, ranking 27th in the league at 77 percent.
To be fair, that 77 percent might not tell the full story. The Bruins’ PK has had to carry an enormous load, and even the best units would wear down under that kind of pressure. But the bottom line is this: Boston is making things harder on themselves than they need to.
And that’s a shame, because the Bruins have quietly turned their season around. Since sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference on Dec. 30, they’ve gone 12-2-2 - the second-best record in the league over that stretch. They’ve scored more goals (67) than anyone else, allowed the sixth-fewest (44), and their power play is clicking at 33.3 percent, second-best in the NHL.
They’ve cleaned up almost every part of their game. Except one.
The penalties remain a glaring issue, and Sunday’s collapse was the latest - and most painful - reminder. The Bruins still managed to salvage a point, improving to 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and holding onto the first wild card spot in the East with a 32-20-4 record (68 points). But if they want to make real noise come playoff time, they’ll need to get their discipline in check.
Because talent isn’t the problem. Execution isn’t the problem. Even coaching isn’t the problem.
It’s composure. And until the Bruins can find it, they’ll keep skating on thin ice - no matter how high the stakes or how big the lead.