The Boston Bruins could lose tonight’s head-to-head with the Tampa Bay Lightning by five goals and this four-game road trip, which began last Wednesday and ends tonight at Amalie Arena, is still a success for a Bruins club that’s simply managed to survive in almost every one of their wins this year.
Think about this: the Bruins began this trip without David Backes and Tuukka Rask. David Pastrnak lasted one game before a two-game suspension was handed his way. And while they are still without Backes, they got Rask back for the second game, and Pastrnak, their top goalscorer, is back tonight.
A 2-1-0 record against three playoff teams from a year ago and with your roster seemingly changing on a night-to-night basis? You’ll take that every single time, and a 3-1-0 record would be a bonus.
Rask, as expected, gets the start for the Black and Gold. The 29-year-old continued to be a straight-up monster on Tuesday night, with 33 stops on 34 shots against, and comes into action with a .961 save percentage. A perfect 5-0-0 on the year, Rask comes into tonight’s tilt with nine wins (three shutouts) and a .901 save percentage in 15 career games against the Lightning.
The Bolts will counter with Andrei Vasilevskiy. The young Russian netminder allowed three goals on 23 shots against in a loss last Saturday, but comes into action with two wins and a .929 save percentage in three games for the Lightning. This will be his first head-to-head with the B's.
This is the first of first meetings between the B’s and Bolts this season.
- Pastrnak has three goals and four points in eight career games against Tampa Bay.
- The Bruins are 3-1-0 when Dominic Moore records at least one point.
- All three of Zdeno Chara’s points have come on the road this season.
- Steven Stamkos has 17 goals and 24 points in 31 career games against the Bruins.
Other news and notes
Matt Beleskey, who is still without a point and is a minus-7 this season, will sit as a scratch for the Bruins tonight His spot on the B’s third line will be filled by emergency recall Sean Kuraly. Prior to his recall, Kuraly recorded one assist in nine games for the Providence Bruins. This could be a ‘healthy scratch’ in name only, as Beleskey was dinged up when he crashed forearm-first into the B’s post in the second period of Tuesday’s win over the Panthers. At the same time, this could also serve as a wake up call to a winger that’s done very little to help this team in 2016-17.
Joe Morrow is the expected healthy scratch on defense.
Here are the expecting lines and pairings for the Bruins tonight.
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak Ryan Spooner - David Krejci - Austin Czarnik Sean Kuraly - Riley Nash - Jimmy Hayes Tim Schaller - Dom Moore - Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara - Brandon Carlo Torey Krug - Adam McQuaid J.M. Liles - Colin Miller
Rask