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Bruins to Hear Music at Trade Deadline

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NASHVILLE – (Wire Service Report) – Less than 24 hours before the NHL trade deadline, the Boston Bruins take their playoff-chasing show on the road to close out the season series with the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

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Boston is on an 11-game home win streak, but treks to Nashville having won only two road games this calendar year and need to break a five-game road skid (0-2-3). Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins gave the Bruins a three-point lead for the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot.

The Bruins’ latest victory came in come-from-behind fashion, as Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt scored within a 50-second span in the first period to erase an early deficit.

Jeremy Swayman continued standing tall, making 34 saves.

“We’ve got to be comfortable in these kinds of tight games, especially down this playoff push,” Swayman said.

Coach Marco Sturm hopes that his Bruins can carry that type of effort and attitude to the road, where they will play 13 of their final 22 regular-season games.

“We feel very comfortable, very confident at home. Even down a goal, no problem,” Sturm said. “Sometimes, it feels a little different on the road. When the other team scores, the crowd gets into it and now we have to react. … We have to get better on the road.”

Thursday marks the Predators’ third  game in four nights, their first since dropping both ends of a back-to-back. Their most recent game was a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, who are currently the first team outside the playoff cutoff in the East.

Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly lit the lamp to give Nashville a 2-1 lead after two periods before Columbus used a two-goal final frame to gain the upper hand.

Tuesday was difficult on more than just the scoreboard, though, as two Predators forwards were traded. Michael McCarron — an “amazing teammate” and “one of those glue guys,” as captain Roman Josi described him — was dealt to the Minnesota Wild during the game, while Cole Smith went to the Vegas Golden Knights after the game concluded.

“We’re going to miss two great people, two big parts of our culture in what they bring every day,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “… Sad to see them go, but at the same time, hoping for the best. They’re going to go to places that have a good opportunity to have a long run, further their career, but we’re going to miss them.”

In the midst of a playoff race, the Predators have little time to dwell.

Now five points back of the West’s final playoff spot, Nashville is 1-2-1 since returning from the Olympic break and has scored more than two goals in only one of its last five games.

“We’ve got to move on,” Josi said. “Obviously, it’s not an easy time for a lot of guys, but all we can control is our play. You have to accept the business side. It’s part of it and it’s not fun, but all we can do as players is to play and hopefully get some wins.”

O’Reilly left Tuesday’s game after taking a stick to the eye during a faceoff, but there has been no update on his status.

The Bruins won 3-2 in overtime when the teams played Jan. 27 in Boston. David Pastrnak scored the game-winning goal.

–Field Level Media

Marchand Beats the Bruins

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SUNRISE – (Wire Service Report) – Anton Lundell came off the injured list and provided one goal and two assists in regulation and also scored in the shootout as the host Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins, 5-4, on Wednesday night in South Florida.

Brad Marchand also scored in the four-round shootout. Victor Arvidsson scored for Boston.

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The Panthers, who snapped a season-high-tying four-game losing streak, also got two other players back from the injured list: Marchand and Sam Bennett.

Other prominent Panthers still injured are center Aleksander Barkov and defensemen Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov.

The Panthers also got goals from Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis and Matthew Tkachuk. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for his first win since Jan. 24.

Boston, playing its final game before its Olympic break, got two goals from Michael Eyssimont. Prior to Wednesday, he had scored just once since Nov. 17. The Bruins also got one goal each from Mark Kastelic and Casey Mittelstadt.

Joonas Korpisalo added 22 saves as the Bruins lost consecutive games for the first time this calendar year.

Bennett appeared to open the scoring just 84 seconds in, but the goal was wiped out on review due to offsides.

The Panthers made it 1-0 — for real this time — as Boston’s Morgan Geekie fanned on a clearing attempt, and that led directly to Luostarinen scoring from the right circle.

However, Boston closed the first period with a 2-1 lead as Eyssimont scored with 12:42 left and again with 7:17 remaining.

On the first goal, Alex Steeves earned the primary assist as he won a puck battle and made a blind pass to Eyssimont, who was in alone on Bobrovsky. On the second one, Eyssimont scored on another breakaway, faking out Bobrovsky before stuffing the puck just inside the right post.

Florida took a 4-2 lead in the second period, scoring twice on its power play and once short-handed.

First, Tkachuk, operating from behind the goal line, tossed a pass to Balinskis, who scored from the slot. Then, less than three minutes later, Florida struck again as Tkachuk made two more great passes before scoring himself, banking the puck in off the back of Korpisalo.

Both times, the Panthers scored within the first 30 seconds with the man advantage.

Florida then added a short-handed goal as Sam Reinhart came up with a steal and then put the puck on Lundell’s stick for a tap-in tally.

However, Boston tied the score 4-4 with third-period goals by Kastelic and then Mittelstadt. First, Kastelic scored on a deflection off a pass from Charlie McAvoy. Then, with 9:30 left in the third, Mittelstadt scored on a rebound, just nine seconds into Boston’s sixth power play of the night.

–Field Level Media

Bruins: Honor Chara and Get Kraken

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Zdeno Chara’s No. 33 is retired to the TD Garden rafters on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins will look to complete a five-game sweep of their homestand when they host the Seattle Kraken. Bruins’ goalkeepers have pitched back-to-back shutouts — one behind both Joonas Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman — and allowed just three total goals in the four games since losing 7-4 in Seattle on Jan. 6.

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“Best stat ever,” Swayman said of the defensive performance that has highlighted the recent unbeaten leg of the team’s 6-1-0 run.

Boston’s latest win on Tuesday was a big one. Pavel Zacha scored the deciding goal and Swayman made 24 saves in a 3-0 shutout of the Detroit Red Wings, who entered the week leading the Atlantic Division.

“I think it was one of the most complete games we’ve played all year long, 5-on-5,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “Those are the games we have to take advantage of a little bit (against a team on a back-to-back). We’ve had a couple recently. I think (Thursday) will be another one.”

While Zacha’s second-period goal stood tall, the Bruins dominated in the third, outshooting Detroit 16-2 and getting scoring from Fraser Minten and Mark Kastelic.

Zacha has points in four of his last five games, including a hat trick with the game-winner in Boston’s 10-2 Saturday win over the New York Rangers. Viktor Arvidsson, who has played on Zacha’s wing of late, is on a five-game point streak.

But focusing on the back end has been key to the stretch.

“I think that’s one of the things from the start of the season we really pride ourselves on — being good defensively, playing these close games and being able to win them,” Zacha said.

Tuesday also marked Boston’s fourth straight game committing just two penalties after a whopping 30 calls in the prior six.

Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm inched closer to returning from injured reserve as he skated in a non-contact jersey on Wednesday.

Seattle visits Boston for the fourth contest of a five-game road trip (1-1-1), heading north following its 3-2 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.

The Kraken’s win over Boston last week also came in the second game of a back-to-back and was part of a 10-game point streak (8-0-2). They are just 1-1-2 since that game.

Jordan McCann had a goal and an assist, former Devils defenseman Adam Larsson also scored, and Vince Dunn helped on both goals against New Jersey.

“I thought we played slow hockey. Prior to the game, we said we were gonna have to play fast,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “I didn’t think we were sharp, and part of being sharp is you play with some speed.”

The effort improved despite a scoreless third period, but New Jersey dominated possession in the extra session.

“We’ve just got to keep going,” Seattle forward Kaapo Kakko said. “Like the third, that was some good hockey.”

McCann joins Jordan Eberle and Chandler Stephenson as Seattle’s third 10-goal scorer this season. He has goals in back-to-back games and points in eight of nine (five goals, five assists).

After Philipp Grubauer’s consecutive starts, all signs point to Joey Daccord taking the net back in his native Massachusetts. Daccord lost Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes but made 32 stops to beat the Bruins the first time around.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Scorched in Seattle

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SEATTLE – Seattle’s Berkly Catton scored the first two goals of his NHL career as the Seattle Kraken torched the visiting Boston Bruins 7-4 on Tuesday night.

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Kaapo Kakko had two goals and an assist, Jared McCann had one of each, Jordan Eberle and Ben Meyers also scored, and Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn and Freddy Gaudreau had two assists apiece for the Kraken, who extended their point streak to nine games (8-0-1). Goaltender Joey Daccord made 32 saves.

David Pastrnak tallied twice, Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist, and Mason Lohrei also scored for the Bruins, who wrapped up a five-game trip in which they went 2-2-1. Jeremy Swayman stopped 20 of 26 shots as Boston saw a two-game winning streak and a three-game point streak snapped.

The 19-year-old Catton was the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and was playing in his 28th game, broke a 1-all tie at 2:48 of the second period. Catton carried the puck over the blue line on the right wing and sent a drop pass to McCann, who immediately passed back to the rookie. Catton’s slap shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle deflected off the heel of Swayman’s blocker and into the net.

Catton scored his second on the power play at 14:20 of the third to make it 6-2. He took a pass from Gaudreau, broke in alone on Swayman and lifted a backhander off the right post and just under the crossbar.

The teams traded goals in the first period.

Seattle struck first at 8:50 as Eberle tallied on a 5-on-3 power play.

Pastrnak tied it at 12:47, faking a slap shot and putting a wrister into the upper-right corner of the net.

After Catton gave Seattle the lead, Pastrnak tied it a second time off a nifty backhanded cross-ice pass from Charlie McAvoy.

The Kraken regained the lead at 18:23 as Tye Kartye, back in the lineup with Eeli Tolvanen a late scratch because of illness, stole the puck behind the Boston net and sent a backhanded pass to Meyers for a one-timer from the slot.

The Kraken extended their lead to 4-2 on a buzzer-beating slap shot from the right point by McCann on the power play. A video review determined the puck entered the net with 0.5 seconds left in the second period.

The teams combined for five goals in the final half of the third period.

Kakko tallied at 10:21, followed by Catton.

Lohrei scored off a scramble in front of the net at 14:50 and Arvidsson on a power play at 17:38 to pull the Bruins within 6-4.

Kakko fired the puck into an empty net at 19:48 to cap the scoring.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Try to Earn Wins

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – With injuries leading to often-changing lineups for Boston, one thing has stayed the same: The Bruins have earned to very few easy wins this season. In fact, a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday was just their second by more than two goals.

Now, the Bruins turn the page to a matchup with the visiting New Jersey Devils, with Boston looking to post its first back-to-back triumphs since completing a seven-game winning streak nearly a month ago.

“Maybe we slip a little bit sometimes after one win or a few wins, so we’ve got to keep that consistency better and have a higher low point than we have right now,” said Boston forward Viktor Arvidsson, who recorded his 400th career point on Thursday.

Boston score twice in the first period against St. Louis before breaking open a 2-1 game with a three-goal middle frame in which Pavel Zacha netted the final two tallies. Joonas Korpisalo made a season-high 37 saves.

Boston forward Alex Steeves has stepped up in the absence of star David Pastrnak, who has missed four consecutive games due to an undisclosed injury and remains day-to-day.

Steeves tallied the game-opening goal against the Blues, his fifth goal in five games as he temporarily plays alongside Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie on the top line. The New Hampshire native did not play in his first NHL game until Nov. 8 this season, working on his game with AHL Providence to earn a recall.

“A lot of guys say it. But to Steeves’ credit, a lot of guys don’t do it,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “He didn’t like to go down (after training camp), but I also remember he said, ‘I will be back.’ … The way he said it, I believed him. I knew his time would come.”

Friday also marked Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s second day skating in a non-contact jersey after taking a shot to the face on Nov. 15.

New Jersey hits the road to complete a back-to-back set and looks to change its luck after being swept in a four-game homestand. The Devils took their second straight shutout loss and third this season in a 3-0 setback against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

Prior to the recent skid that dropped them out of a playoff position in the ultra-tight Eastern Conference, the Devils were 9-0-1 on home ice this season. They are 7-7-0 on the road.

“We need everybody on board,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “We have our foundation, and it starts with just competing. We’ve also got to find a way to score goals. Without scoring goals, you aren’t winning. … We have to simplify our game and get a dirty win.”

New Jersey was right in it on Friday, trailing just 1-0 after two periods before Vegas padded its lead with a pair of power-play tallies late in the third.

Devils coach Sheldon Keefe searched for answers in another late-game situation, moving his top line to feature Hischier centering Ondrej Palat and Jesper Bratt.

Another change to the forward lineup came in the form of Angus Crookshank, who was recalled from AHL Utica and made his Devils debut on Friday. He had an even rating in 10:36 of ice time.

“He skates hard and shoots the puck extremely well,” Keefe said. “We think if he can get a scoring chance, he can shoot it in the net. We’re just trying to give him a chance.”

Crookshank had five goals in 17 AHL games at the time of his call-up. The first 21 games of his NHL career were with the Ottawa Senators over the past two seasons.

–Field Level Media

Rangers and Bruins Give Thanks

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Preview) – After their Thanksgiving dinner tasted even better on the heels of Wednesday victories, the Boston Bruins will host the New York Rangers in their first meeting of the season on Friday afternoon.

The Bruins just spent 10 days completing a four-game road trip that spanned from California to New York, ending it on a high note with a 3-1 win over the Islanders on Wednesday. Friday will mark Boston’s first skate on home ice since Nov. 17, and another will follow against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night to complete a back-to-back.

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“We came into the trip wanting to at least be .500 on it, and felt like we left some points in California in a couple of those games,” Bruins forward Tanner Jeannot said. “We knew we wanted to come out and play (Wednesday’s) game really hard, finish off the road trip and head back home for Thanksgiving. The boys battled hard.”

Alex Steeves, who played on a new-look fourth line with Sean Kuraly and Mikey Eyssimont, recorded the first two-goal performance of his NHL career. Jeannot scored the eventual game-winner in the second period in between Steeves’ tallies, the latter of which came on a short-handed rush with 9:39 left in regulation.

“I’m not thinking I’m David Pastrnak or anything all of a sudden, but it definitely gives me confidence,” Steeves said.

Fraser Minten also played a key role in Boston’s latest victory, providing the only assist on both the tying and winning goals.

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman could be in line for his fourth consecutive start after making a career-high 44 saves against the Islanders. He is 7-2-0 with a .935 save percentage across his last nine starts, giving first-year coach Marco Sturm an easy decision of late.

“That’s why he was back in,” said Sturm, whose team was outshot 45-14. “We had that feeling (before the game) that we can’t get him out of the net because he’s playing that well — and he showed it. How calm he was, that gives us, I would say, a little bit of extra juice. We don’t have to worry about what’s behind us.”

The Rangers have followed up a four-game skid with back-to-back wins — including a 4-2 road win against their Metropolitan Division rival Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday — to move above the .500 mark at 12-11-2.

“We’re playing with more structure,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think we’re playing with better intentions. We’ve got numbers back. I think that’s the game that’s going to give us the best chance to win.”

In an unusual trend, the Rangers are 10-4-1 on the road and just 2-7-1 at Madison Square Garden, where they will return for a Saturday date with the Tampa Bay Lightning. They had just one road loss on the season prior to the recent skid.

A pair of third-period goals proved to be the difference in Wednesday’s game for the Rangers, who were at a 38-18 disadvantage in shots and withstood five Carolina power plays.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, while Vincent Trocheck scored the deciding goal 45 seconds into the final frame. Those efforts helped make a winner out of Igor Shesterkin (36 saves).

“I don’t think we were at our best, but we found a way to win and I thought the third was our best period,” New York captain J.T. Miller said. “It’s funny, you go through the first 15 games of the year, how many games we thought we should have won. This is one of those that hopefully can help even some of those out.”

–Field Level Media

Bruins Bounce Back

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Bruins scored three goals in less than four minutes during the second period to erase an early two-goal deficit on the way to a 5-2 win over the visiting New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

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David Pastrnak, Michael Eyssimont and Elias Lindholm recorded a goal and an assist apiece while Fraser Minten and Morgan Geekie also scored for Boston, which has won two of its last three games.

Eyssimont scored the game-winning goal at 7:48 of the second.

Geekie has lit the lamp in five consecutive games.

Boston’s Charlie McAvoy added two assists and Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves, stopped all 15 shots he faced in the third period.

Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, Kyle Palmieri also scored and Ilya Sorokin turned aside 17 shots for Islanders, who took their first regulation loss in a six-game span (4-1-1).

New York had a 35-22 shots advantage. Boston went 2-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

The Islanders buried their first shot just 1:08 into the game. After Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm’s slap shot sailed high and wide, Jonathan Drouin started a rush the other way and dropped a pass to Horvat, who netted a wrister past Korpisalo’s blocker.

Palmieri converted on an extended delayed penalty to double the Islanders’ lead at 4:52, burying Mathew Barzal’s perfect cross-ice pass through the crease into an open side of the net.

The Bruins did not record a shot over the final 9:45 of the first, but turned the tables with a busy second.

Elias Lindholm got Boston on the board 3:57 into the middle frame, taking Pavel Zacha’s feed into the right circle for a one-time goal on the power play.

At 6:49, Pastrnak made it a one-goal game when he finished off Hampus Lindholm’s slap pass with a wrist shot from the right side.

Just 59 seconds later, Eyssimont flipped the score in the Bruins’ favor when his skate deflected McAvoy’s shot to the far post.

Korpisalo kept Boston ahead entering the second intermission, making back-to-back saves on a Horvat partial break with under 4:00 to play before backstopping a kill after Hampus Lindholm’s double-minor high-sticking penalty kill.

Following the Bruins’ second consecutive kill, Geekie made it 4-2 when he blasted a one-timer from the top of the left circle at 5:48 of the third. McAvoy set up the man-advantage tally.

After several key Korpisalo saves insured Boston’s lead, Eyssimont made a steal at the defensive blue line and sprung Minten for an empty-net tally with 3:23 left.

Boston defenseman Jonathan Aspirot played 14:16 in his NHL debut.

–Field Level Media

NHL: Bruins Look to Bounce Back

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SALT LAKE CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Bruins look to erase a string of three consecutive losses and finish their first Western Conference road trip of the season strong, paying a Sunday night visit to Salt Lake City to clash with the Utah Mammoth.

Marco Sturm made the first major lineup shake-up of his young Bruins coaching tenure ahead of a 4-1 Saturday loss to the 5-0-1 Colorado Avalanche, opting to bring Johnny Beecher in for his season debut while Pavel Zacha joined Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak on the top line.

“Against a team like Colorado, we need the whole package. We spread it out a little bit more (on the lines),” Sturm said, noting Beecher’s strong penalty-killing and faceoff ability.

Come Sunday, though, it could be back to the drawing board for Sturm.

Beecher rewarded his new coach with a first-period goal just 3:11 in, but the Bruins were dominated to the tune of 38-14 in shots and went more than 17 minutes without a single shot at one point.

Not nearly enough Bruins were going. For one, Pastrnak finished without a shot and had a minus-2 rating.

“My grinders were the best players again. If your grinders are your best players rather than your best players, you’re going to be in trouble,” Sturm said in a television postgame interview.

Defenseman Hampus Lindholm did give the Bruins a veteran boost after being considered a game-time decision on Saturday morning. He returned from a three-game absence (lower-body injury) to play 20:44 against Colorado and hopes to finish the back-to-back in Utah.

“It’s nice to be out there playing. Tough game tonight, but lots of stuff to build on for myself, and I feel like as a team, (we want to) get back on the horse,” Lindholm said.

Jeremy Swayman tended the goal for the first two games of Boston’s trip, which began Thursday with a 6-5 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Joonas Korpisalo is expected to make the Sunday start.

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The Mammoth has turned around a 1-2-0 start with back-to-back wins for the first time this season, including a season-high scoring output in a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Friday. Utah enters Sunday as one of just five teams (2-0-0) still unbeaten at home this season.

“Eighty-two games, it’s a race for improvement. We’re far from the finish line, we need to improve,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. ” … I’m proud of the focus of the guys, the way they commit to what we have to do.”

Nick Schmaltz and captain Clayton Keller paced Utah as the first pair of teammates to record four points in the same game this season.

While Keller recorded his fifth four-point game in the last two seasons, Schmaltz notched his second career hat trick and the second in Utah franchise history with the help of two goals in a span of 3:52 in the first period. Schmaltz’s first goal broke the team’s 0-for-13 drought on the power play, which was a league-worst 1-for-16 entering the game.

Schmaltz leads the Mammoth with seven points, including at least one in four of the first five games.

“I feel like I’ve had a lot of chances early on in the season here and (I’m) trying to shoot the puck more, take it to the net, be around the net more,” Schmaltz said. “A couple guys made some great plays to me and found me in open areas. It was fun to see a couple go in there.”

The teams split their two meetings last season. Utah won its home game 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 19, 2024.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Ex-STURM-inated

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli’s planted a pair of first-period goals which helped the visiting Lightning build a three-goal lead and hold off the Boston Bruins for a 4-3 victory on Monday afternoon.

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Pontus Holmberg had a goal and an assist, Yanni Gourde added a goal, and Jonas Johansson made 30 saves for the Lightning, who shook their first 0-2-0 start under coach Jon Cooper.

Tampa Bay’s Gage Goncalves and Jake Guentzel each had two assists.

The Lightning finished 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, with the last coming during Johansson’s 10-save third period.

Casey Mittelstadt, Jordan Harris and Morgan Geekie each scored a goal for the Bruins, who saw their three-game season-opening win streak come to an end. Boston’s Joonas Korpisalo stopped 19 shots.

The Lightning scored 1:09 into the game as Cirelli tipped home Guentzel’s shot from the right side. Guentzel picked off Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy at neutral ice and bumped the puck to Goncalves, who made the play with a cross-ice pass.

Cirelli made it 2-0 at 13:16 when he deposited Guentzel’s backhand from behind the goal over Korpisalo’s glove-side shoulder. Another turnover extended the Lightning’s zone time before the goal.

After Boston was held scoreless in the first period for the first time this season, Tampa Bay extended its lead to 3-0 on the opening shift of the second period. Holmberg drove to the net and spun to feed a wide-open Gourde for a tap-in at the 39-second mark.

Mittelstadt responded with Boston’s first goal just 30 seconds later, scoring a wrist shot from the high slot off a strong rush sequence.

Tampa Bay reestablished a three-goal lead at 3:37 of the second period when Holmberg banged in a loose puck in the crease after Max Crozier centered it from the side wall.

Harris scored his first as a Bruin at 5:31. After David Pastrnak chipped the puck off the defensive zone wall, Harris beat Johansson with a short-side wrister.

Pavel Zacha’s faceoff win led right to Geekie for a quick flick of the wrist from the left circle, bringing Boston back within 4-3 at 11:35.

With Boston skating 6-on-5 in the final minute, Pastrnak blocked Brandon Hagel’s shot at an empty net before Johansson’s key rebound stop on Geekie in the slot preserved the victory.

–Field Level Media

 

STURM-IN-ATORS

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Under new coach Marco Sturm, the Boston Bruins have continued a familiar trend. The Bruins have won their first three games this season, doing so for the fourth time in seven campaigns. They will look to continue their October pace when they close a three-game homestand against the Tampa Bay Lightning this afternoon.

Boston passed its first Atlantic Division test in a 3-1 victory Saturday over the Buffalo Sabres. Pavel Zacha, Mark Kastelic and Sean Kuraly each scored a goal and the Bruins received strong goaltending from Jeremy Swayman (21 saves), while going 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

“(We’re) paying attention to our system and having high attention to detail,” Swayman said. “There’s a reason why we’re getting results — because each guy is buying in and sticking to our system the coaches put together.”

Since the Morgan Geekie-Elias Lindholm-David Pastrnak top line did all of the scoring in Wednesday’s 3-1 win at the Washington Capitals, Boston has received top-to-bottom contributions.

Defenseman Jordan Harris provided a perfect example in his Bruins debut, subbing for Hampus Lindholm (lower body). The Massachusetts native played a strong game and chipped in immediately with the primary helper on Zacha’s first goal.

In net, Swayman has allowed just one goal in each of his two starts.

“(Saturday) was just a good example of how we want to play,” Sturm said. “It doesn’t always have to come from the big boys. I think everyone is chipping in and excited to get out there.”

The Bruins’ results have come in close games as well, closing two victories with empty-net goals and winning the other in overtime.

“It’s not easy to play tight games like that at this level,” Harris said. “Every team has players that can make plays. I think it’s really impressive how we stuck to our game.”

Following a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, the veteran-laden Lightning are 0-2-0 for just the third time ever and the first in Jon Cooper’s 13 full seasons as head coach.

Tampa Bay allowed three goals in a five-minute stretch during Saturday’s first period. Two nights earlier, the Ottawa Senators erased a pair of first-period deficits and handed the Lightning a 5-4 loss to begin the season.

“There were a lot of uncharacteristic plays left out there that guys that are normally used to making them weren’t making. So that’s part of the reset too,” Cooper said. “And then ultimately, you have to just go back to basic winning hockey habits. We did it for a while, clearly not enough.”

All three members of Tampa Bay’s top unit have contributed multiple points so far, including center Brayden Point with a team-high four and defenseman Darren Raddysh with two goals. But there is work to do.

The Lightning has been outshot by at least nine in both games, with former Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy off to a rough start (.855 save percentage).

“We just didn’t go from a good team to a bad team in two games,” Cooper said. “You lose two in a row in January, it’s one thing. When you lose two in the beginning, it’s a little eye opening. So, a lot of runway left here.”

Cooper’s team hopes hitting the road for all four games this week can provide a bit of a fresh start. The first of two back-to-backs in that span moves from Boston to Washington for a Tuesday tilt.

“It’s only two games, and we’re gonna go on the road, we’re gonna come out hard,” Lightning forward Yanni Gourde said. “That’s all we can control is the next game and the first shift of the next game, and we go from there.”

–Field Level Media