Point/Counterpoint

The Islanders host the Bruins at 7:00 PM on Saturday to tussle over the remaining wild card spot for the playoffs.

• Three separate times the Bruins led the Lightning only to fall behind almost immediately. That was all in the first period- each answering tally occurred while the area was still celebrating the Bruins goals. WEEI
• Five goals on 28 shots is not going to win a game. Defensive gaffes and heavy workload aside, Tuukka Rask, your team needed you last night. Boston Globe
• The Bruins are down to a 50/50 shot at the playoffs, and their odds have dropped more this week than any other NHL team by a double digit percentage. The Score
• Focus. Urgency. So the problem is that the team somehow doesn’t understand what is at stake? Whaaaa? Boston Globe
• Now Bruce Cassidy has a front row seat for yet another disappointing March. Will his mellow demeanor and focus on the present steer his team back on track after a series of losses? WEEI
• David Pastrnak or David Backes? Evaluate two very different players as options to ride alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Compare the numbers of others who have played in that spot. Sports Illustrated
• Noel Acciari still awaits his first NHL goal, and Cassidy hints that Rask may have to suck up and play tomorrow’s matinee. Providence Journal
• With fingers planted firmly in ears while murmuring “lalalalala,” the Bruins turn their focus to the Islanders , who are vying for the very same playoff spot the Bruins hope to squeak into. Causeway Crowd

Elsewhere around the rink:

• Ladies and gentlemen! The new trainer for the Las Vegas Golden Knights comes from an interesting background. New York Times
• Ohio students have engineered a prosthetic for a hockey player to enable him to hold a stick. Clermont Sun