Tampa Bay Lightning Prepare For A Showdown In Beantown

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a difficult challenge in front of them tonight as they charge into the TD Garden tonight to go head-to-head with captain Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins.

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Last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning may have played one of the worst games that they have played all season long.

If a team like the Philadelphia Flyers can capitalize on the opportunity so graciously laid out before them and send the Bolts packing, imagine what a team like the Boston Bruins can accomplish.

The good news is, we have a feeling that after a night like last night, the Lightning will be much more focused and ready to bring home a win tonight in Boston. The bad news is, they will have to do it without two of their best players.

Both Lightning center Tyler Johnson and defenseman Victor Hedman suffered Lower Body Injuries in last night’s disastrous outing against the Flyers, which means that we’ll be down our top goal scorer and one of our most solid defensemen. The only silver lining to this one is that with the Lightning’s organizational depth this season, they should have no problem filling the gaps.

The Lightning has already made the call to Syracuse Crunch center Vladislav Namestnikov to rejoin the team during Johnson’s injury. In the 23 games that the 22 year old Russian center has played with the Bolts this season he has netted 3 goals and 4 assists for a total of 7 points to accompany a plus-3 rating.

The Bruins will be down a few players of their own in tonight’s encounter. Bruins left wing Simon Gagne has elected to take an indefinite leave of absence from the organization in light of some personal issues that he has been battling as of late. Gagne will not return to the Bruins for the remainder of the season.

Also out for the Bruins is center Marc Savard who is currently dealing with the repercussions of a concussion.

There are a couple of keys that are going to be crucial to the Lightning bringing home two points in tonight’s Atlantic Division showdown in Beantown. Let’s take a look at some of them now.

Draw First Blood

Obviously, every team wants to put the puck in the back of the net; however, one of the important keys to getting off on the right skate is to be the first one to put the puck in the back of the net. This sets the tone for the entire game and affords a team a little bit of breathing room in the first twenty minutes of play.

The Lightning are notorious for winning games when they are the first to score in an encounter. Whether this is a superstition or the fates aligning, we all know how this one ends. All they have to do is put the biscuit in the basket first. Sounds simple enough, right?

Stay Out of the Penalty Box

As we mentioned before, the Boston Bruins are a very physical team. There is no doubt in our minds that at one point or another there is going to be some rough and tumble. That is to be expected in any good hockey game, but there are plenty of penalties that are 100% preventable. These are the ones that the Bolts need to be mindful of.

Any time that you give a team like the Bruins an opportunity with the man advantage you are inviting disaster in. This is not the kind of situation that they should be allowing themselves to fall into, and hopefully this is something that Cooper has ingrained in their minds coming into tonight’s game.

Be Consistent

We all know that there have been games where the Lightning have burst out of the gate like a firecracker on the Fourth of July, but then somehow managed to fizzle out in the final forty minutes. On the flip side, there have been those games where we have gotten off to a slow start and had to battle back in the final forty.

If the Lightning want to leave the TD Garden with an additional, all-too-important two points, they are going to have to play a consistent sixty minutes of hockey, keep their focus, and most importantly…put the puck in the back of the net.

Keep The Offensive Pressure On

In last night’s encounter with the Philadelphia Flyers, the Lightning were grossly outshot in the first two periods, only to battle back in the third to leave the shot differential at only one. If the Lightning hope to come home with two points against a team like the Bruins, they are going to have to put the puck on the net, and often.

A goaltender like Tuukka Rask, which is who the Lightning will be shooting on tonight at the TD Garden, is not gotten over on very easily. So far this season, Rask has a record of 17-10-6 with a Goals Allowed Average of 2.47 and a Save Percentage of .914.

You have heard me say a hundred times that I am a person who values quality over quantity in almost every situation. This means that not only do the Bolts need to put the pressure on, but they need to be concise strikes that have real potential to beat an high echelon goaltender like Rask.

If the Lightning clear their minds of their performance last night in Philly, take what they have learned from the experience, and head into tonight’s game with focus and determination, we have no doubt in our minds that the boys and blue can get the job done. It’s a simple as putting on skate in front of the other.

What do you think the Bolts need to do to secure two points tonight in Boston? What can they learn from last night’s encounter that they can use to their advantage tonight against the Bruins? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. Are you ready to Be The Thunder?

Next: What Can Be Done to Fix The Lightning Power Play?

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