After Thursday’s ugly 3-0 loss to the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, the Bruins knew they needed a much better effort against the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.
Although produced with two completely different-looking teams on the ice since their last meeting — a 3-2 home victory for Boston on Nov. 29 — the end result remained the same. With their 3-0 shutout of the Lightning Saturday night, the Bruins have now won eight of their last 10 against their Atlantic Division foes.
Without their star center (Patrice Bergeron), top defensive pair (Zdeno Chara & Charlie McAvoy), and their second line left-winger (Jake DeBrusk), the injury-plagued Bruins needed a full 60 minutes to take down the Bolts.