Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Round 2, Game 5
Time: 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Location: Amalie Arena
Broadcast / Streaming: NBCSN (Stream), CBC, TVA Sports
Opponent SBNation Site: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Preview:
Game 5. The Lightning come back home to Amalie Arena with a 3-1 lead in the series after taking two games in Boston. After Game 2, I was just hoping for the Lightning to take one in Boston and bring the series home with a 2-2 tie. It seemed like that was pretty likely especially since every other series had already gotten to 2-2. Instead, the Lightning came up big with a game-tying goal in the third period by Steven Stamkos, and the overtime winner from Dan Girardi in Game 4.
Now they have an opportunity to finish out a series in five games at home in the second straight series. The Lightning have had the better of the five-on-five for almost the entirety of the series. The Bruins tried to make some line-up changes for game four, but it didn’t help get their offense going. Their three goals, and all of their assists, in Game 4 came from their first line and Tory Krug.
It appears that Krug is unlikely to be available for today’s game after losing his footing going into the boards and going feet first. He limped his way through the rest of his shift, and then was helped down the hall to the locker room when he got off the ice. It was an unfortunate play for him as he had Killorn coming in behind him as they both were going to the corner for a puck. He’s also been clearly the Bruins’ best defenseman all series. Losing him is a big blow for their blue line and will force less capable players to step up and help fill the gap.
The early starts haven’t always been great for the Lightning. But they’ve gotten off to fast starts in the past three games. They would do well to do the same in game five. They’d also do well to stay out of the penalty box as their penalty kill has come back to bite them once again.
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: [pending morning skate]
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
