The stakes were much higher 10 months ago to the day, also known as the last time
Dwayne Roloson came to Boston as the Tampa Bay Lightning's starting goaltender.
Facing off against the Bruins'
Tim Thomas with a Prince of Wales Trophy on the line, the duo that were a combined 78 years old (Now 79 thanks to Roloson's 42nd birthday celebrated this past October) dueled to a finish that'd ultimately end with Roloson and the Bolts heading home for the summer by way of
Nathan Horton's game-winning goal late in the third period of Game 7. But the buzz around Boston for tonight's contest doesn't have anything close to that of a Cup run feel, and yeah, the times -- they're changing.
Despite a 35-save effort last night in Philadelphia, the aging Roloson enters play tonight as by all means the worst goaltender in the National Hockey League. Boasting two league worsts, a .885 save-percentage and downright disgusting 3.65 goals-against-average, the decision by
Guy Boucher to roll with the hot hand (If you want to call it that) over the recently returned to the NHL
Sebastien Caron came on the heels of the Simcoe, Ont. native's third straight victory.
Stopping 103 of 111 shots thrown his way over that stretch, good for a .928 save-percentage, Roloson will be opposed by a familiar foe in Boston's crease, the red-hot Tim Thomas. Winning three of his last four starts, surrendering just six goals in his last 244 minutes of ice-time, the 37-year-old Thomas has returned to becoming a rock for the Black-and-Gold as the club looks to continue to tighten their death-grip on the Northeast Division.
But that won't be an easy feat for a Boston team that got utterly pasted by Tampa last time around. Smacked down 6-1 in their last meeting against the Bolts, B's coach
Claude Julien knew that his team simply wasn't prepared for a quick-striking Tampa attack.
"They came out extremely hard against us, and we weren’t ready for that and because of that we lost a game – it was a pretty easy win for them," Julien said this morning, adding, "Let’s put it this way – the way we gave them goals and the mistakes we made along the way, so we have to be better tonight."
In other words, the B's don't plan on treating this one like a gimme.
"Every game to me is a new challenge," Julien said. "We win tonight, it’s three wins in a row, which is great. We don’t win tonight, we’ve won two in a row which is something we’ve only done – what, three times since January?"
Game-Changers
Ready for a statement that was last said in the Boston area eight years ago? There's not a Bruin that's hotter than
Brian Rolston right now. Riding a six-game point-streak, the 39-year-old Rolston has chimed in for three goals and eight assists over that stretch, and has provided Boston with a stable presence from the point on the man-advantage. Enjoy it while you can, Boston, because the dude's simply rolling right now.
In the past eight games, Tampa's
Steven Stamkos has tallied
just five goals and one assist. Prior to this recent 'cool-down', the 22-year-old Stamkos had 48 goals and 34 assists in 67 games. What am I saying? He's primed to have a monstrous night in the Hub. With eight goals and 13 points in 15 career games against the Spoked-B, Stamkos has tallied three goals in three games against the Bruins this year. Look. Out.
Stats of Note
- The Bruins are a perfect 17-0-0 this year when
Chris Kelly scores a goal.
- Boston's
Milan Lucic has scored just two goals in the last 12 games.
- In 26 career games against Tampa,
Patrice Bergeron has six goals and 17 assists.
- Tampa Bay is 4-0-1 this year when
Victor Hedman blocks at least five shots.
-
Ryan Malone has points in 10 of the Bolts' 13 games this month.
- Lightning forward
Teddy Purcell does not have a goal in his last eight games.
News and Notes
Don't expect much change from the Boston lineup tonight. Confirmed to 'probably' roll with the same lineup, expect
Joe Corvo,
Torey Krug,
Mike Mottau, and
Danny Paille to make up the healthy scratches for the Bruins.
In other news, Bruins are going to have a brief ceremony prior to the puck-drop to honor
Zdeno Chara's 1,000th career game, played on Saturday in Los Angeles. Chara, under contract until the sun burns out, played in 470 of those games with the Boston Bruins.
For Tampa, both
Nate Thompson and
Vincent Lecavalier remain out while Hedman (sick) returns to action.
Follow me on Twitter, shoot me an email at [email protected], or become Facebook friends with the HockeyBuzz Bruins profile for links, interactions, and updates.
*********
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Bruins Buzz; a one-stop feed for all things Bruins related on HockeyBuzz. For more information,
click here.