B's follow cranky old snowbirds down to Florida to take on Lightning

The Bruins hope that they can carry the momentum from last month into December. The B's went 11-1-1 during the month of November. Meanwhile, the Lightning are looking to snap a 5 game losing streak (0-3-2).

Just who are these Lightning that you speak of?
Tampa Bay Lightning 6-10-8; 20 pts (4th in Southeast, 14th in East)

Under Barry Melrose: 5-7-4
Under Rick Tocchet: 1-3-4

Leading Goal Scorer
Vincent Lecavalier 10 Goals (10-10-20)

Goaltending
Mike Smith 18 GP 5-6-7; 2.41 GAA .929 Sv% 1 SO
Olaf Kolzig 7 GP 1-4-1; 4.11 GAA .887 Sv%
Karri Ramo 1 GP 0-0-0; 4.29 GAA .882 Sv%

Guys Who Like to Drop the Gloves
Ryan Craig: 3 Fighting Majors
Ryan Malone: 3 Fighting Majors
Steve Downie: 1 Fighting Major

'08-'09 Season Series
1st of 4 meetings

Injury Report

Boston
Tim Thomas: Probable (Illness)
Marco Sturm: Day-to-Day (Post Concussion Symptoms)
Aaron Ward: Out (Leg)
Andrew Ference: IR (Broken Tibia)

Tampa Bay
Gary Roberts: IR (Leg)
David Koci: Out 2-4 weeks (Broken Hand)
Matt Pettinger: IR (Knee)
Chris Gratton: IR (Lower Body Injury)
Jeff Halpern: IR (Knee Surgery)

Things to Look for Tonight:

- Former Bruins Head Coach Mike Sullivan is back behind an NHL bench as Associate Coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

- Will it be Johnny Boychuk or Matt Lashoff that gets the nod as the 6th defenseman tonight?

- The Lightning have the least goals per game in the NHL (2.29)

- Whoever gets the start in goal for the Lightning will likely see a lot of rubber. The Lightning allow a league worst 35.3 shots per game. The Bruins rank 9th in shots taken with 30.7 shots per game.

- The B's should look to control this game early. The Lightning have only a .133 winning percentage when trailing after the first period.

- The Lightning called up D Matt Smaby from Norfolk. The 6'5" 220 lb blueliner has appeared in 19 games for Norfolk (2-3-5; 26 PIM)

- Tim Thomas and Martin St. Louis were teammates at UVM.

- Tampa Bay is 1-5 in shootouts this season

- Tampa Bay has the most overtime and shootout losses in the league (8)

Today Obligatory Embarrassing Creepy YouTube Fan Mascot Video:



Nice use of a Bosstones track in the background, though.

UPDATE (3:01 PM): KPD is reporting that Tim Thomas will get the start in goal tonight and Marco Sturm will be out of the lineup once again with the lingering effects of a concussion. If Sturm can't go on Saturday night against the Panthers, the B's would likely call up a forward from Providence. No word on which D-Man will be in the lineup tonight.