Pre-Game Skate: Bruins at Lightning
Matchup: Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)
Records: Boston 25-22-11, 61 points; Tampa Bay 26-21-11, 63 points
Past History: The Bruins won the first meeting of the year 4-1 in Boston on Dec. 2 as Marco Sturm scored a pair of goals, but fell 2-1 in Tampa on Dec. 28, though Sturm scored the only Boston goal in that one as well. The Bruins own a 39-16-9-0 edge in the all-time series, including a 16-13-3-0 record at Tampa.
Bruins Connections: The Lightning coaching staff is chock full of former Bruins, with head coach Rick Tocchet having played in Boston from 1995-97, while assistants Wes Walz (1989-91) and Adam Oates (1991-97) also donned the Black and Gold during their playing careers. Last year’s deadline deal between the clubs hasn’t exactly worked out for Tampa Bay. While the Bruins still hold the Lightning’s second-round pick this spring and Mark Recchi is fifth on the team with 11-18-29 totals while being one of just four Bruins to play in every game this season, neither Matt Lashoff nor Martins Karsums has played a game for the Lightning this year. Karsums was reassigned from their AHL club in Norfolk to HC MVD Moscow of the KHL in January, while Lashoff is a team-worst minus-20 in Norfolk. Nate Thompson, who played four games with the Bruins in 2006-07 and spent several seasons in Providence, was claimed by the Lightning off waivers from the Islanders last month and Brandon Bochenski, who played 51 games in Boston in 2006-07 and 2007-08 after arriving from Chicago for Kris Versteeg in one of Peter Chiarelli’s rare misses. He was later dealt to Anaheim for Shane Hnidy and made his way back to the NHL last month when the Lightning called him up from Norfolk.
New England Ties: Tampa Bay general manager Brian Lawton was born in New Jersey, but grew up in Rhode Island and attended Mount St. Charles. Goaltending coach Cap Raeder hails from Needham, Mass. and forward Marty St. Louis played his college hockey alongside Bruin netminder Tim Thomas at Vermont.
Injury Update: The Lightning are without defensemen David Hale, who broke a bone in his right leg while on a conditioning stint in Norfolk (AHL) and Paul Ranger, who has been out all year for personal reasons. For the Bruins, blueliners Mark Stuart (broken finger) and Johnny Boychuk (broken orbital bone) remain out.
Fight Card: There were no fights in the first meeting of the season, but Tampa’s Zenon Konopka took on Byron Bitz in the second matchup. There’s no surprise there, as Konopka leads the NHL with 22 fighting majors this year. Thanks largely to Konopka, the Lightning are fourth in the league with 52 fighting majors. That’s matches last year’s total for the entire season, which itself was the most fights for a Lightning team since Tampa piled up 66 majors in 1999-00. Agitator Steve Downie and heavyweight Matt Walker each have had seven fights to complement Konopka’s volume work. The Bruins are 14th in the league with 34 fighting majors, led by Shawn Thornton, whose 15 bouts have him tied for eighth in the league.
Matchup to Watch: Tuukka Rask vs. Antero Niittymaki. This should be a clash of two of the hottest goalies in the league. Rask is expected to make his fifth straight start, having gone 2-0-2 in the last four, allowing just six goals on 137 shots in that span. He followed up a 36-save shutout Sunday in Montreal to break Boston’s 10-game losing streak with a 43-save performance Tuesday in a shootout win at Buffalo (for more on Rask, please check out a feature on his emergence here). Overall, he’s 12-7-4 this year with the second-best GAA in the league (2.01) and the best save percentage (.931). Fellow Finn Niittymaki has been even better, going 7-0-1 with a 1.09 GAA, a .965 save percentage and a shutout in his last eight starts. He’s also 10-3-3 with 1.75 GAA at home this year, but has struggled against the Bruins (0-4-1, 4.39 GAA in five career starts). If both play, it will be their first crack at each other, as Tim Thomas and Mike Smith each started the first two games in this season’s series.
Three Keys for the B’s:
1. Slow down Stamkos and St. Louis – Along with Niittymaki, the Lightning’s recent surge has been fueled by forwards Steven Stamkos and Marty St. Louis, who have scored 16 of Tampa Bay’s 22 goals in the last nine games. Stamkos, who has 33-30-63 totals in 58 games, is riding a 10-game point streak with 8-8-6 totals in that span, while St. Louis, who leads the Lightning with 20-46-66 totals in 58 games, has a seven-game point streak with 7-4-11 totals in that stretch. Both are also far more effective at home, with Stamkos posting 37 points and a plus-18 in 29 home games and just 26 points and a minus-16 in 29 contests on the road. St. Louis has a similar split, with 36 points and a plus-13 at home and 30 points and a minus-11 on the road despite playing equal games home and away.
2. Sturm ready for a streak? – Bruins winger Marco Sturm is one of the streakiest players in the NHL. He’s gone through some rough patches this year, but could be ready to go on one of his patented hot streaks. The Bruins, who have struggled to find consistent offense all season, certainly could use it. Sturm, who leads the Bruins with 18 goals, scored a pair Sunday against Montreal. He didn’t have a point on Tuesday, but did score in the shootout in his first shootout attempt of the season. He also has three goals in the first two games against Tampa this year, so maybe one of those hot streaks is ready to begin.
3. Road warriors – After failing to get a win on their four-game homestand, the Bruins have opened their four-game road trip before the Olympics with back-to-back wins at Montreal and Buffalo. Overall this season, the Bruins have fared slightly better on the road, earning 29 points in 27 games (12-10-5), as opposed to 32 points in 31 games at home (13-12-6). The Lightning, however, have been dominant at home (17-6-6) and struggled on the road (9-15-5). They’re 10-1-2 at home since Dec. 23, which will make this one quite a challenge for the Bruins.
The Lowdown: The Bruins have finally turned things around, winning back-to-back games after ending their 10-game losing streak on Sunday and earning points in their last four games. That has put them right back in the playoff mix, sitting in ninth just two points behind eighth-place Tampa Bay. The Lightning just happen to be Boston’s next opponent, and a regulation win by the Bruins would give them identical records. That won’t be easy though, as Tampa has been red-hot of late. The Lightning have won four straight – they’re longest win streak since November, 2007 – and have outscored opponents 12-5 in that span. They’re also 7-1-1 in their last nine and have lost just once at home since Christmas. That successful run at home includes a 2-1 win over the Bruins on Dec. 28, and the Bruins will need another big effort from Rask in goal and some timely offense to avoid a repeat of that result and squander the momentum they’ve built on this trip.
Tags: Lightning
