Tampa Bay Lightning Head Home For An Atlantic Division Showdown
The Tampa Bay Lightning head home to the Amalie Arena tonight as they take on the Boston Bruins in their final meeting of the regular season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning put on a tremendous show over the course of the last few weeks. The Lightning set a new franchise record for wins in a row when they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes on March 5th at the Amalie Arena to extend their win streak to nine games. Unfortunately, that all came to an end on Monday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning were defeated 4-2 by the Philadelphia Flyers.
The good news here is the players don’t have any time to sit back and dwell on what might have been. The Tampa Bay Lightning will have to channel all of their frustration from last night’s game into the fiery passion needed as the Lightning charge home to the Amalie Arena here in the Sunshine State to take on the Boston Bruins in an Atlantic Division showdown marking the fourth and final time these two teams will meet this season.
The only person who really seemed to show up in Monday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers was Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy. With little to no help in front of the net, the Russian netminder cast aside 36 of 39 shots on goal. This kind of play cannot happen tonight if the Lightning have any hopes of bringing home a victory over a team like the Boston Bruins.
Each team has their own advantage coming into tonight’s encounter. The Boston Bruins have a slight advantage over the Tampa Bay Lightning given the fact that Lightning are finishing off their back-to-back tonight against the Bruins. The guys are obviously tired and more than a little frustrated with last night’s performance.
At the same time, the Tampa Bay Lightning can breathe a sigh of relief as the Boston Bruins will be without F Zac Rinaldo, who has been suspended by both the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League for questionable head shots. This is not the kind of player a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning, who is already dealing with a couple of injury issues, wants to subject their players to.
There are two players on the Boston Bruins the Tampa Bay Lightning will need to be mindful of tonight as they battle the Bruins at the Amalie Arena. The first of those players is Bruins left wing Brad Marchand. In addition to his hard-hitting play style, Marchand currently leads the Bruins in goals with 33 so far this season. Add in his 20 assists and you come up with a grand total of 53 points. This is good enough for second place on the team.
Another player the Lightning need to be mindful of is Bruins center Patrice Bergeron. The 30-year-old Quebec native has already scored 28 goals and 31 assists for a grand total of 59 points. These numbers put Bergeron in first place on the Bruins in terms of overall points.
As usual, leading the way for the Tampa Bay Lightning is Bolts right wing Nikita Kucherov. Nikita Kucherov has brought home 25 goals and 29 assists for a total of 54 points so far this season. Kucherov’s 54 points is good enough to put him in first place on the team in terms of overall points and second on the team in goals scored.
Right on the heels of Kucherov is Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Stamkos leads the Lightning in goals scored with 29. Add in his 23 assists he’s had so far this season and you get a grand total of 52 points. This places Stamkos in second place on the team, right behind Nikita Kucherov, in overall points.
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As we mentioned before, the Tampa Bay Lightning played a really bad game last night. Thankfully, the one group of people who knows this more than the fans here in the Bolts Nation are the players themselves. If the Tampa Bay Lightning can use this frustration they have inside and channel it into a strong offense against the Bruins, the Lightning will find themselves on the fast track to another record-setting win streak.
Thankfully, Tampa Bay Lightning fans won’t have to wait much longer to see how things are going to play out. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 p.m. at the Amalie Arena. Can’t make it to the game tonight? Never fear! Here’s a look at all the information you’ll need to ensure you don’t miss a moment of the action.
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What do you think is the key to a Lightning win over the Bruins tonight? Which player do you see stepping up to take the lead? Let us know what you think in the comments below.