When the Boston Bruins began a key four-game road trip on Thursday night in South Florida against the Florida Panthers, they did so knowing that they were either going to all but lock up a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference or they were going to struggle to stay above the cut line.
The Panthers beat the Black and Gold, 2-1, to complete the season sweep of the Bruins. That's frustrating, given they are not going to make the playoffs. On Saturday, they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1, in a game that they had control of for 37 minutes before a third-period meltdown.
Two losses on a trip is not a great start. They have a quick turnaround on Sunday, playing the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon in Philly, while the Flyers are coming off a win on Friday night against the New York Islanders. They close out the trip on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm doesn't beat around the bush after loss to Lightning
Tampa Bay rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the third period for the 3-1 win. Casey Mittlestadt gave the Bruins a 1-0 second-period lead with a goal. Before that and after that, there were several chances to build on the lead. They couldn't. Nikita Zadorov even has a post. The failure to build on a lead against a team like the Lightning proved costly.
"Those little details, they matter, and those details have hurt us two games in a row now,'' Sturm told Andy Brickley on the NESN broadcast.
Sturm is correct. The details have cost them and cost them big time. In both games. Whether it's the struggling power play, turnovers in the defensive end, or not converting on golden scoring opportunities, you name it, they've failed. Let's add the game-winning goal by Tampa Bay in there. It's a save that Jeremy Swayman makes 99 out of 100 times. That one time was Saturday night.
There is still plenty of work for the Bruins to do with five games left in the regular season. A regulation loss to the Flyers and things get uncomfortable.