The last time Steven Stamkos took to the ice against the Boston Bruins, he wasn’t able to complete the game. That was back on November 11th, the day Stamkos suffered a broken leg that cost him 45 games of this season. Now, with the captain’s “C… sewn squarely on his sweater, Stamkos is hoping to lead the Lightning to victory over those Bruins for the first time this year.
This is the fourth and final meeting between the Atlantic Division foes in 2013-14; Boston has outplayed Tampa by a fairly wide margin in all three of the previous contests. For whatever reason, and there’s probably bunch, the Bruins just have the Lightning’s number.
Even though they’re on a bit of a slide, the Lightning should certainly be able to draw on their great performance in Thursday’s loss against the Buffalo Sabres. It’s not often that teams can look to a loss against the worst team in hockey for positives, but the Bolts played a very solid game in that one. The effort was there, the chances were there, and the want to win was there. Tampa looked better in that game than they did in their only post-Olympic win so far.
Of course, it should be noted that this Bruins team is a whole lot (read: infinitely) better than the Sabres team the Lightning saw on Thursday. Where the Sabres let the Lightning waltz into the offensive zone, the Bruins will stop them. Where the Sabres were passive, the Bruins will be aggressive. It’s going to take some tightening up on the Lightning’s part if they want to get the job done tonight.
Knowing that the Bruins are a fairly big team, head coach Jon Cooper has elected to make some lineup changes. The top line of Alex Killorn, Steven Stamkos, and Teddy Purcell is expected to stick together, but the second line will see Ondrej Palat suit up beside Valtteri Filppula and Ryan Callahan. Ryan Malone, BJ Crombeen, and Nikita Kucherov are the scratches, while Keith Aulie will draw in. Radko Gudas is still out with a lower body injury.
And, if you were wondering, Ben Bishop will indeed get the start tonight after playing the backup role on Thursday. I like Anders Lindback a lot, but there’s no arguing the fact that Bishop gives this Lightning team a better chance to win.
While the Lightning head into tonight’s game cold, the Bruins are on a hot streak that has seen them win three straight games. Buoyed by all-world goaltending from Tuukka Rask (and Chad Johnson) and a potent offensive attack, the Bruins have been able to knock off the Rangers, Panthers, and Capitals since March 2nd. But, hey, they did lose to the Sabres in their first game out of the Olympic break. If the Bruins can lose to the Sabres, the Lightning shouldn’t feel bad about losing to the Sabres.
Finally, I’ll note that there was a time in which the Bolts and Bruins were battling for first place in that Atlantic Division. Now, the Bruins have first place all but locked up while the Lightning are fighting for their playoff lives. This is a big game, and it will likely be filled with a lot of emotion.
As always, thanks for reading.