BOSTON -- The circle of life continues in the Eastern Conference.

Try to stay with this: The Tampa Bay Lightning can’t beat the Boston Bruins. The Montreal Canadiens can’t beat the Lightning. The Bruins can’t beat the Canadiens.

That trend continued this week as the Bruins defeated the Lightning 3-2 in a shootout Thursday night at TD Garden. On Tuesday, Tampa Bay beat the Canadiens 1-0 in overtime at Bell Centre in Montreal.

“It’s the circle of the NHL,” Tampa coach Jon Cooper said prior to Thursday’s game. “I have no answer for it.”

No one does. It just happens.

The Bruins have won 10 straight over the Lightning. With its victory Thursday, Boston is 14-2-0 in its last 16 against Tampa Bay. The Bruins and Lightning play twice more during the regular season with both games in Tampa, including the final game on April 11.

Meanwhile, the Lightning have a 3-0-0 record against Montreal this season. And the Canadiens swept the four-game season series against Boston.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell,” Bruins assistant captain Patrice Bergeron said when asked about the current trend. “Moving forward, we know they are teams we might face in the playoffs, whether it’s Tampa, Montreal or whoever it is, we need to make sure we play well against all of them and match up well. I really can’t pinpoint one thing, but we definitely need to find a way to play well against all these top teams.”

Tuukka Rask saved the Bruins by making big saves in the second period and in overtime. Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports

This trend matters in the big picture with the Stanley Cup playoffs quickly approaching. With less than a month remaining in the regular season, teams continue to jockey for postseason position.

Currently, the Bruins remain in the eighth and final playoff spot in the East, but trail the Washington Capitals by only two points. The Lightning, Canadiens and New York Rangers all are tied atop the conference standings with 91 points.

Once the playoffs begin, the Bruins figure to face one of those top teams. Safe to say Tampa wants no part of Boston, and the Bruins would like to avoid the Canadiens, at least for the first round. Realistically, the East is wide open.

“A lot of teams in the league, that happens,” Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask said. “There are just some certain matchups that they just fit well with each other. I don’t know what it is -- I really don’t.”

If the Bruins are to have success in the postseason, Rask obviously will be a key factor. He’s played 23 of the last 25 games for the Bruins and has been sharp of late, helping Boston to a 6-0-1 record in the last seven games, including a four-game winning streak.

It was evident during pregame warmups Thursday that Rask is dialed in.

He pulled a nutty, smashing his stick into pieces on the ice after a teammate scored on him. He sprinted off the ice and went to the locker room. It’s not unusual for him to get this emotional and it’s normally a good sign when he shows that kind of excitement.

The intensity translated into the game and he finished with 35 saves.

“I was just trying to get myself going,” he said.

When asked if it worked, Rask said, “Well, when you look at the result, yeah.”

When the Bruins faltered in the second period, Rask made the timely saves. In overtime, he came up big again and he stifled the Lightning in the shootout.

“He’s been huge,” Bergeron said. “He gives us a chance to get that extra point, especially in overtime when we were down a man, he made some huge saves to keep us in it. He’s been great. He’s definitely stepped up to the plate and he keeps getting better. He’s definitely a big part of our team.”

When things have gone well for the Bruins this season, and in the past, they always seem to get some puck luck now and again. Boston caught a break in the shootout since Tampa Bay sniper Steven Stamkos was not available due to a 10-minute misconduct he received during overtime for inadvertently throwing his broken stick into the stands.

“Yeah, definitely something that we’ll take,” Bergeron said. “He’s definitely a threat every time he’s on the ice and obviously in the shootout as well. He’s one of the best in the game so we’ll take it.”

The Bruins are peaking at the right time and with 15 games remaining in the regular season, they need to keep it going.

“We know that we can play against everybody in this league, and we’ve shown that in the past,” Rask said. “Maybe we just haven’t gotten the wins necessarily, but we’ve played some good hockey games against some good teams. Today was a good example of that.”