Don’t look now, but the Boston Bruins are looking like a club that’s found their groove.
Winners in three straight, and with points in seven straight (4-0-3), the Black and Gold have nestled themselves back into the second wild card spot, holding a one-point edge over the Florida Panthers. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for the B’s, who kick off their three-game homestand with tonight’s visit from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the top club in the Eastern Conference through the halfway mark of 2014-15.
“There’s no doubt you win some games certainly you feel much better about yourselves. So that’s, to me, self-explanatory and our guys are making plays now or feeling a lot more comfortable,… said Boston coach Claude Julien. You got a Tampa Bay team that likes to play fast, had a tough outing last night no doubt they're going to want to bounce back here against us tonight. We know the importance of this game, as well, for both teams. Again, big challenge for us and probably a big challenge for them.…
Set for the first 2014-15 meeting between the two Atlantic Division rivals, the Bolts roll into the hub on the second leg of a back-to-back that began with last night’s 7-3 drubbing at the hands of the Flyers, and potentially without the services of superstars Tyler Johnson and d-man Victor Hedman.
The loss in Philly put an end to Tampa Bay’s three-game winning streak, but still gives the Bolts wins in seven of their last nine, along with a 11-9-3 mark on the road this season.
They’re still an extremely tough matchup. And even with the possibility of Johnson missing this game, the Bruins know that they’ll need to have a successful four-line night from their club in order to hang with a Lightning squad that’s scored the most goals in the league (143) through four-plus months of hockey.
With that in mind, the Bruins are expected to keep their forward trios intact, with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak expected to be the wings for David Krejci on the Bruins’ top line. That puts Milan Lucic and Danny Paille with Patrice Bergeron. Winger Reilly Smith shifts to the left with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson. And Chris Kelly skates with Gregory Campbell and Craig Cunningham on the fourth line.
It’s that fourth line that remains a question mark for the Bruins, too.
“I don’t know. I’ve had different players with him at times. I put [Chris] Kelly down there, had different guys. I though [Jordan] Caron played well when he played on that line. Can’t say it’s been a real stable line all year long,… Julien admitted of the Campbell line. “It’s hard to kind of label them right now. I know that Caron played well. We’re giving Craig Cunningham an opportunity here and see where that goes. I think, again, we’re still evaluating that on a game to game basis.…
The Bolts are expected to give the start to Ben Bishop. The 28-year-old netminder stopped nine of 12 shots thrown his way in relief of Evgeni Nabokov last night, and comes into play with the fifth-most wins in the league this year (21) and a solid .910 save percentage. At 6-foot-7, Bishop poses a lot of problems for any team he goes against, but success has certainly eluded him in three career showings against the Black and Gold, as Bishop holds an 0-2-1 mark, 3.79 goals against average, and .868 save percentage vs. Boston.
Boston will counter with Tuukka Rask. The Finnish ‘tender has started 2015 with the hot streak the Bruins have needed -- he has two wins and a .944 save percentage in four 2015 starts -- and comes into the Hub on the heels of a strong 24-of-25 outing against the Flyers this past Saturday. Rask has seven wins (three shutouts) and a strong .928 save percentage in nine career games against the Bolts.
- Boston winger Milan Lucic has two goals and two assists in his last three games.
- Loui Eriksson is riding a seven-game goalless drought.
- Defenseman Torey Krug has points in 12 of his last 17 games played.
- Steven Stamkos has 12 goals in 23 career games against the Bruins.
- Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov has eight goals and 18 points in his last 15 games played.
Other news and notes
I’d expect Matt Bartkowski and Jordan Caron to skate as the Bruins’ healthy scratches.
Given their injury situation up front, the Lightning have recalled forward Vladislav Namestnikov from the Syracuse Crunch. The 22-year-old has three goals and seven points in 23 games for the Bolts this season.
The Bruins swept last year’s season series with the Lightning, 4-0, outscoring them 15-to-4.