Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Round 2, Game 2
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Location: Amalie Arena
Broadcast / Streaming: NBCSN (link to NBC stream), CBC, TVA Sports,
Opponent SBNation Site: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Preview:
After getting shown up by Patrice Bergeron’s line in the first game, it’s going to be important for the Lightning to come out and show that they can make some adjustments. They did well keeping the rest of the Boston lineup in check, but they got run over by the first line in a way that Cooper will have to address. The Brayden Point line was able to keep that line’s possession numbers down, but when they gave up opportunities, it seemed like the Bergeron line could put the puck in the back of the net at will.
We also need to see Steven Stamkos’s line step up tonight. With the Point line trying to deal with Bergeron, the Stamkos line needs to be dominating, just as the Bergeron line was in game one. They got off to a slow start in the Devils series before heating up. I’m hoping to see the same thing from them starting tonight.
I’ll also be looking for Vasilevskiy to be sharper. While some of the shots there wasn’t much he could do about them, I’d like to see him come up with a few more insane saves on those kind of plays. The week off seemed to be a little too much for him and he didn’t look as sharp as he did to finish out the Devils series.
Getting the win tonight is critical. Boston is a very hard place to play and the Lightning have not fared well there historically. The team has already put themselves in a position where they have to win at least one game in Boston. Going into Boston with a two-game deficit would almost assuredly mean doom for the series.
Tampa Bay Lightning:
Lineup notes: [pending morning skate]
Forward Lines:
J.T. Miller – Steven Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat – Brayden Point – Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz – Cedric Paquette – Ryan Callahan
Defense Pairings:
Victor Hedman — Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh — Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn — Mikhail Sergachev
Goaltenders:
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Boston Bruins
Lineup notes:
Forwards:
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Rick Nash
Danton Heinen – Riley Nash – David Backes
Tim Schaller – Sean Kuraly – Noel Acciari
