Early look The full preview opens on Friday 15 January, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins: game preview

Puck drop18 Jan · 1:30 PM ET
VenueTD Garden
All-time meetings148 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Six points apart last season

Tampa Bay finished last season 5th in the league on 106 points. Boston finished 8th on 100, and the 2025-26 season series went TBL 4-0-0.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 149

Across 148 completed games, Boston lead the head-to-head 85-48-15.

All-time record85-48-15Boston's record in the series
Meetings played148This is number 149
2025-26 seriesTBL 4-0-0
Last 55-0Tampa Bay
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
11 Apr 2026TBL 2 – BOS 1——TBL
4 Apr 2026BOS 1 – TBL 3——TBL
1 Feb 2026BOS 5 – TBL 6 SO——TBL
13 Oct 2025TBL 4 – BOS 3——TBL
15 Mar 2025TBL 6 – BOS 2——TBL
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateTampa BayBoston
13 Oct 20251-2-0 · 2 pts27th3-1-0 · 6 pts3rd
1 Feb 202633-14-4 · 70 pts2nd30-20-3 · 63 pts10th
4 Apr 202648-22-6 · 102 pts3rd43-26-8 · 94 pts9th
11 Apr 202649-25-6 · 104 pts5th43-27-10 · 96 pts10th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 13 Oct 2025, Tampa Bay were 27th in the league and Boston 3rd. By 11 Apr 2026 it was 5th and 10th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

Boston out-attempted Tampa Bay 245 to 229

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

Tampa Bay Lightning

229 att · 116 on goal · 14 G · 12.1%
Crease24 att · 5 G
Slot82 att · 5 G
Wing85 att · 3 G
Point35 att · 1 G
Neutral zone3 att · 0 G

Boston Bruins

245 att · 110 on goal · 10 G · 9.1%
Crease20 att · 0 G
Slot79 att · 7 G
Wing106 att · 3 G
Point34 att · 0 G
Neutral zone6 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Tampa Bay have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

Tampa BayBoston
4.04xG for per game2.87
2.64xG against per game3.13
60.5%xG share47.8%
−4.1FinishingGoals minus expected goals−2.5
+0.9GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+1.5

This season: 3 games for Tampa Bay, 4 for Boston. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Tampa Bay

Small sample
Power play · 2026-270.0%
Power play · 2025-2620.7% · 17th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2785.7%
Penalty kill · 2025-2682.6% · 3rd
Faceoffs · 2026-2748.2% · 81/168
Drawn · 2026-2713 (4.33/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-277 (2.33/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Boston

Small sample
Power play · 2026-270.0%
Power play · 2025-2623.4% · 9th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2772.7%
Penalty kill · 2025-2677.0% · 24th
Faceoffs · 2026-2750.4% · 117/232
Drawn · 2026-2710 (2.50/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2711 (2.75/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
86Nikita Kucherov31341.33
59Jake Guentzel31231.00
38Brandon Hagel31231.00
47Mark Kastelic41230.75
10JJ Peterka42020.50
44James Hagens42020.50
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
74John Carlson30220.67
27Ryan McDonagh30000.00
27Hampus Lindholm41120.50
91Nikita Zadorov40220.50
6Mason Lohrei40220.50
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 16 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 16 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Tampa Bay crease

TBL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 15 Jan

Andrei Vasilevskiy.8983 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx +1.0

No appearances against Boston in the last meetings.

Boston crease

BOS · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 15 Jan

Jeremy Swayman.9143 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx +1.4
Michael DiPietro.8971 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx −0.7

No appearances against Tampa Bay in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.1 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

11 Apr 20263 · TBL 2–1 BOS
4 Apr 20264 · BOS 1–3 TBL
1 Feb 202611 · BOS 5–6 TBL
13 Oct 20257 · TBL 4–3 BOS
15 Mar 20258 · TBL 6–2 BOS

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Tampa Bay2.672.333.542.82
Boston2.252.753.323.05

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.1Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings6.6Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

4 on the injury lists

Tampa Bay · injuries

Dominic JamesHandIRReturn8 Oct
Emil LillebergUndisclosedOutReturn13 Oct
Yanni GourdeHipIRReturn2 Dec

Boston · injuries

Charlie McAvoySuspensionOutReturn13 Oct
6 Oct · TBL

Placed C Jansen Harkins on waivers.

27 Sep · TBL

Placed D Michael Callahan on waivers.

27 Sep · TBL

Placed D Michael Callahan, G Mads Sogaard Nielsenon, LD Maxim Groshev, LW Jakob Pelletier and C Nicholas Abruzzese on waivers.

5 Oct · BOS

Reinstated C Matthew Poitras from injured reserve.

4 Oct · BOS

Placed RW Michael Eyssimont on waivers.

27 Sep · BOS

Placed D Henri Jokiharju on waivers. Placed C Matthew Poitras on injured reserve.

Injury report
#52Oleg KulebiakinRound 2 · HalifaxRW
#90Tomas KralovicRound 3 · BratislavaD
#134Morgan AnderbergRound 5 · VaxjoC
#154Cooper SollerRound 5 · Sioux FallsC
Full draft
#56Yuri IvanovRound 2 · Spartak Jr.G
#88Nils BartholdssonRound 3 · Rogle Jr.RW
#104Matvei KotkovRound 4 · Yaroslavl Jr.RW
#122Oscar OlssonRound 4 · Orebro Jr.LW
Full draft

Updated after every final