Lightning Strike Back in Wild Outdoor Classic, Top Bruins in Shootout After Historic Comeback
If you tuned in late, you missed a bit of NHL history. Eleven seconds after puck drop, Brandon Hagel ripped one from the top of the circles to give Tampa Bay a lightning-fast lead-literally. That goal wasn’t just a tone-setter; it was the fastest ever scored in an NHL outdoor game and tied the franchise mark for quickest to start a game, last done by Ruslan Fedotenko back in 2006.
But that early jolt didn’t rattle the Bruins. Boston responded with a dominant first period, pouring in three goals on 20 shots while holding the Lightning to just eight. By the time the horn sounded for the first intermission, the Bruins were up 3-1 and in full control.
Then came two more Bruins goals-one from Matthew Poitras, another from Morgan Geekie-before the midway point of the second. At 5-1, it looked like Boston was cruising to a statement win.
And then, the game flipped.
It started with a rare sight: Andrei Vasilevskiy dropping the gloves with Jeremy Swayman. That scrap didn’t just fire up the crowd-it lit a spark on the Lightning bench.
From that point on, Tampa Bay turned up the pressure and never looked back. The Bolts outshot the Bruins 38-14 after the first period and outscored them 4-2 the rest of the way.
Boston didn’t do themselves any favors either. The Bruins racked up 11 penalties, putting Tampa Bay on the power play eight times. That parade to the penalty box opened the door, and the Lightning stormed through it.
First came Oliver Bjorkstrand, crashing the net and finishing a loose puck on the man advantage to cut the deficit to 5-2. Then, with under four minutes left in the second, Boston handed Tampa a long 5-on-3.
Darren Raddysh made them pay, blasting home a slap shot to make it 5-3. Just 23 seconds later, Nick Paul got to the front of the net and tipped in a centering pass from Jake Guentzel on the ensuing 5-on-4.
Suddenly, it was a one-goal game-and the ice had tilted completely.
“We never counted ourselves out,” Raddysh said after the game. “We always have belief in here. Vasy had that fight, and from then on, it just gave us more energy.”
That belief carried into the third. With the Bruins still reeling, Nikita Kucherov-the league’s leading scorer-delivered the equalizer.
Set up by Ryan McDonagh, Kucherov unleashed a one-timer from the right circle that beat Swayman high glove. Tie game.
Overtime didn’t settle anything, though Boston thought they had the winner before officials blew the play dead on a delayed penalty.
That brought us to the shootout, where Guentzel-already with two assists on the night-iced it. He glided into the left circle, shifted to the hashmark, and snapped one high glove past Swayman.
Kucherov finished with a goal and three assists in a vintage performance. Hagel added a goal and two helpers, while Guentzel chipped in his pair of assists and the shootout winner.
Raddysh contributed a goal and an assist as well. On the Bruins’ side, Geekie led the way with three points.
Vasilevskiy, after his unexpected bout with Swayman, turned away 29 shots. Swayman faced a barrage, stopping 41.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper summed it up best: “It had the weather. It had the state in which doesn't usually get weather like this.
It was a phenomenal atmosphere, perfect ice hockey playing conditions. You had goalie fights, you had 11 goals, you had a shootout.
You had a goal scored when nobody in the building could hear a whistle. It had everything.”
The win pushes Tampa Bay to 35-14-4 on the season and an eye-popping 17-1-1 in their last 19 games. And they didn’t just win-they made a memory.
“I don't think you can get much better than this outdoor game in NHL history,” Guentzel said postgame. “Down 5-1, to come back, get to overtime, and then there was a goalie fight.
I think it had a little bit of everything in the drama and just what it meant to Tampa Bay to have an outdoor game. That was one that you'll remember for the rest of your life.”
Next up, the Lightning head back to Benchmark International Arena for a Tuesday night matchup against the Buffalo Sabres. After a night like that, the bar has been set high.