Pastrnak shut down, anemic offense, and more: 3 reasons why Boston Bruins lost 6-2 to Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning cruised to a 6-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night at TD Garden, snapping a three-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the Bruins have now lost two straight.

Anthony Cirelli scored twice for Tampa Bay, while Victor Hedman, Nick Paul, Darren Raddysh and Brandon Hagel (empty net) also found the back of the net. Elias Lindholm and Marat Khusnutdinov scored for Boston.

3 reasons why Boston Bruins lost to Tampa Bay Lightning

#1. Bruins outplayed

The Boston Bruins didn’t put up much of a fight, as the Lightning controlled the game from start to finish. Tampa Bay outshot Boston 40-12 and won more than 56% of faceoffs.

A disastrous second period sealed the Bruins’ fate, as they surrendered three goals and entered the second intermission trailing 4-1 — a deficit they could not recover from.

#2. Anemic offense

The Boston Bruins' offense struggled throughout the night. The second period was particularly brutal, as the Bruins failed to register a single shot on goal.

While Boston gave up three unanswered goals, the Lightning peppered Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman with 21 shots. In the end, the Bruins managed just 12 shots in the entire game.

#3. Pastrnak shut down

David Pastrnak has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season for Boston. The star forward has 82 points in 67 games, standing out in a year of underwhelming performances from the team.

However, Pastrnak was held in check Saturday night, recording just one shot on goal in 21:27 of ice time over 21 shifts. Despite his efforts to spark the Bruins’ offense, the team could not break through Tampa Bay’s dominant play.

The Bruins will take Sunday off before returning to action Monday night for a divisional matchup against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden.