Bruins vs. Lightning Game 3 PREVIEW: August hockey is FUN

Just the Facts:

The Time: 8pm EST

The Place: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario

Place to Watch: NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, SportsNet

Place to Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Opposing SBNation Blog: Raw Charge

Know Your Enemy:

• Stamkos is still out. Again.
• Brayden Point looked particularly dangerous in Game 2, and is top-ten in playoff scoring so far. (5G - 6A — 11Pts) Unclear if Ryan McDonagh will return on defense.
• Ondrej Palat was the hero last night, but it was a full-line effort with Pat Maroon and Yanni Gourde, and the chain reaction of forecheck-wraparound-rebound-rebound ended things pretty quick.

Game Preview

Late in regulation is a good time to tie a game, amirite? Even when the Lightning scored the go-ahead goal early in the 3rd, there was optimism on the Bruins bench. Putting last night’s game into OT felt like a good omen at the time. Tampa short-shifted through their second, first, and third line and ran roughshod over the Bruins for just under five minutes before Palat scored the winner.

But, you knew that already. What’s on tap for tonight? Probably more of the same, though who’s to know - back-to-back games in a playoff series still feel kinda new. To the Bruins’ advantage, they were better at spreading the load across their defense last night; and for Tampa, their offensive lines played more equitably. Which will be the key tonight? Will Boston’s top line need some reprieve? Does Victor Hedman finally crack, and show that he is in fact a cyborg? It doesn’t look like coach Bruce Cassidy trusted Anders Bjork or Nick Ritchie must last night... so is there a lineup change? WILL STEVEN STAMKOS RETURN?!

We’ll try to keep up with any updates during the day, though they’ll probably be vague.

See you back here and on Twitter tonight for another edition of BubbleHockey!