The Bruins had 0-2-1 stretches in October and November that featured tough defeats to clubs that do not occupy a playoff spot now.
In the current stretch, Boston has suffered road setbacks at the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins also have dropped home tilts versus the New York Islanders in overtime and the Edmonton Oilers.
Road contests against Tampa Bay and the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, a return match against the Lightning and a trip to the Ottawa Senators.
The Bruins reside one point ahead of Tampa Bay, which has five games in hand.
Right winger David Pastrnak tops the team with 17 goals and 25 assists, while Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm have 21 and 20 points, respectively.
The Lightning have relied mostly on a team effort, getting contributions up and down the lines.
However, with a tie game on the line Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes and a four-game skid hanging in the balance, Tampa Bay turned to its two best forwards in the final minute — Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov.
The linemates authored the game-winning goal in dramatic fashion to prevent their team and Boston from squaring off Thursday with each owning a five-game losing streak.
Kucherov fired a blind pass from the half-boards into the slot, where Point settled the puck, spun back to get off a forehand shot and pocketed his club-high 24th goal to cease the drought.
