Just the facts
When: Tonight, 7:30 PM
Where: Amalie Arena - Tampa, FL
How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Rival SBN site: Raw Charge
Know your enemy
- 21-7-1, 43 points, 1st in the Atlantic, 1st in the NHL
- Nikita Kucherov: 12G-30A-42PTS; Brayden Point: 20G-17A-37PTS; Steven Stamkos: 10G-16A-26PTS
- Andrei Vasilevskiy is out with a foot injury; Louis Domingue: 11-4-0, 3.14 GAA, .900 save percentage
Game notes
- This rematch of last spring’s Eastern Conference Semifinal doesn’t exactly come at a great time for the Bruins. The Lightning have won four games in a row and sit atop the NHL standings, while it seems like the rash of injuries is finally starting to catch up with the worn-down Bruins. Normally, this would be a good measuring stick game for the Bruins; however, it’s hard to put a ton of stock in it when guys like Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy remain out.
- The Bruins barely showed up in Tuesday night’s loss, and got their doors blown off. If that happens again tonight, expect something more like 12-0. Tampa’s offense is elite, far surpassing Florida’s. The Bolts lead the league with 112 goals, 10 more than the next closest team.
- Nikita Kucherov has been Tampa’s offensive engine over the past couple seasons as Steven Stamkos has seen his production slow a tiny bit. What’s surprising, however, is that Stamkos has now been surpassed by Brayden Point as well, who continues to do nothing but score. He’s going to be giving Tampa William Nylander-esque contract headaches this summer.
- If the Lightning do have a weakness right now, it’s between the pipes. Tampa’s number-one goalie is out, and they’ve relied heavily on Louis Domingue in the meantime. Edward Pasquale made his NHL debut earlier this week and won, but allowed five goals in the process. Tampa’s 16th in the league in goals-against, right there with Edmonton. Not exactly elite company.
- Tuukka Rask will start tonight for the Bruins, a given after the not great performance by Jaroslav Halak on Tuesday.
- Per the team, Steven Kampfer is probably going to play tonight “for one of the younger guys,” i.e. Lauzon or Clifton.
See ya tonight!