The Tampa Bay Lightning continue their road trip by heading all the way to the TD Garden in Boston to take on the Boston Bruins.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has had a pretty successful start to their season. Since the Tampa Bay Lightning Home Opener on Thursday night, the Lightning have laced their skates up tight and left it all out on the ice. Today, as the Bolts make their way to the TD Garden in Boston to take on the Boston Bruins, they look to keep the momentum they have built rolling bring home the win in Beantown.
We would be lying to you if we told you we were not excited about the start to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season. How many teams in the National Hockey League can say they started off their season 2-0? Out of the thirty teams in the NHL, there are currently only 11 teams who can say this. This number will lessen even more after this afternoon’s games.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins faced each other a total of four times in the 2014-15 season, a series which was split down the middle. Unfortunately for the Bruins, they have not been able to find much success thus far this season. In fact, they haven’t found any success at all. Since opening night, the Boston Bruins have suffered defeats at the hands of both the Winnipeg Jets and the Montreal Canadiens.
Unfortunately, this may not exactly be good news for the Tampa Bay Lightning. We all know the Bruins are a hard-hitting, competitive team. After suffering two consecutive losses as they have, you can bet your bottom dollar they are hungry and are viciously hunting down their first win of the season. If the Tampa Bay Lightning has anything to say about it, it won’t be at their expense.
While their hunger may be intense, they will have to embark on their journey missing quite a few of their key players. There is one player we guarantee you won’t be seeing in today’s encounter. Bruins left wing Brad Marchand sustained a concussion in Saturday night’s encounter with the Montreal Canadiens and will be out indefinitely.
Also questionable for today’s game is Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who has an upper body injury, and Dennis Seidenberg, who is dealing with back issues at the moment.
On the other side of the ice, the Tampa Bay Lightning may be getting back one of the players they recently lost due to injury. Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper said center Cedric Paquette has been given the go ahead to play and could return today against Boston or Tuesday when the Lightning take on the Detroit Red Wings.
It bears mentioning that the Tampa Bay Lightning could potentially have something to cheer about tomorrow afternoon, in addition to a victory over the Bruins. As most of you know by now, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 499th point against the Sabres on Saturday night. Should he score a goal or make an assist in today’s encounter, he will reach the magic 500 mark.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made some pretty big strides in Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Players seem to be making more shot attempts from the blue line and being much more aggressive with the puck. This is something we would like to see them continue throughout the season.
The one thing we don’t want to see them continue is the manner in which the Power Play has been performing. We’re not exactly sure where the breakdown has originated from; however, if the Lightning want to continue to be successful throughout the season, this is one of the areas that will need some serious attention.
The Tampa Bay Lightning know what it takes to win. After this group of young players got a real taste of what it means to compete at the highest level of play in the NHL, they are craving more. Every single game this season is a journey to reclaim their spot at the top of the Eastern Conference and once again make their way to the Stanley Cup Finals, this time to hoist the Stanley Cup high above their heads.
This journey continues as the Tampa Bay Lightning take the ice tonight at the TD Garden. Are all of you here in the Bolts Nation ready to cheer on your Bolts as they attempt to electrify the “big, bad” Bruins? We know we here at Bolts By The Bay are!
Next: Steven Stamkos Scores First Goal of the Season Against Buffalo
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