Tampa Bay Lightning: Boston Bruins Fate Is In Our Hands

The Boston Bruins face elimination from the 2014-15 Stanley Cup Playoffs should they fall to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night at the Amalie Arena.

The Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in a rather interesting position right this moments, one that could be related to tossing napalm on an otherwise raging fire.

The Tampa Bay Lightning only has one more game to play before the regular season comes to a close and their journey into the post season officially begins. That game is against a team that the Lightning, and even more so the fans, have a heated rivalry with; the “big, bad” Boston Bruins.

The strange thing here is that the tables have been dramatically turned from the way things have gone in seasons past. Essentially, each and every one of the Bruins’ playoff hopes hinge on one thing…whether or not they can pick up a win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The scariest part for Bruins fans is that even if they should pull off a win for the Bolts, this doesn’t guarantee them their place in the playoff picture.

As the Yahoo! site Puck Daddy points out, even if the Boston Bruins win against the Lightning, they would still need one of two things, preferably for Bruins’ fans both, things to happen if they want to see the post season; an Ottawa Senators loss in regulation or for the Pittsburgh Penguins to only gain one point over the course of their next two games.

While the latter seems unlikely at this point, we have a feeling the Bruins will be leaning on the Ottawa loss in Philly against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Keeping all of this in mind, this means that the necessity for a Tampa Bay Lightning win has just increased more than tenfold. There are the obvious reasons like the chance of clinching the Atlantic Division and kicking off the beginning of the post season on a high note, but when you hold another team’s fate in your hands – especially a team like the Bruins – you’ve simply got to step it up a notch.

There are a few things that the Tampa Bay Lightning will need to be prepared for if they hope to bring home the two points against the Bruins. The most important of those is physicality.

We all know that the Bruins have always been a very physical team, but with their playoff hopes on the line you can bet your bottom dollar that they will be pushing the limits of what is acceptable to the max. The Lightning will need to be prepared for some pretty big hits and to give those same hits in return.

Also, they will need to be on the lookout for their fair share of goonery. There are plenty of people on the Bruins who love to instigate things and love to take the cheap shot whenever the opportunity presents itself. The Lightning will need to be prepared to not fall into traps, but when said trap cannot be avoided, they will have to push back with the same intensity.

Another thing they will have to look out for is allowing themselves to be in a situation to get called for completely avoidable penalties. The Boston Bruins are good at capitalizing on the opportunities that are put in front of them and the more times you open the door, the more chances you give the Bruins to slam it in your face.

One of the key factors in the game is going to be whether or not the Lightning can remain focused and play a consistent 60 minutes of hockey. The Bolts need to come out of the tunnel with drive and a passion to win, strike first, and keep the pressure on.

If the Lightning come out strong and then take a nap in the second period, they may not be able to pull themselves out of the rut in the third period and could find themselves going home pointless. As you can imagine, this is not something we want at this stage in the game.

As we said before, the fate of the Boston Bruins rests squarely in the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. All the Lightning have to do is charge into the Amalie Arena ready to play and determined to get the job done. Just like the old saying goes, “there’s nothing to it but to do it.”

The only question left now is, are you ready to Be The Thunder for the final time in the regular season? You can bet that we sure are!

Next: 10 Reasons Why The Tampa Bay Lightning Will Win The Stanley Cup

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