Bruins at Lightning
The Boston Bruins are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07 and need a victory to have any chance when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. The Bruins lost at Washington 3-0 on Wednesday and dropped a 4-2 decision at Florida 24 hours later to lose control of their own destiny, forcing them to win their final game while either Pittsburgh loses to Buffalo or Ottawa is defeated in regulation by Philadelphia.
“It’s tough,” Bruins forward Chris Kelly told reporters. “We’ve been a proud group that always wanted to do things on our own and now we’re looking for help.” Boston saw its 10-game winning streak against the Lightning come to an end with a 5-3 defeat at Tampa Bay on March 22. The Lightning have matched their franchise record with 106 points – also accomplishing the feat in their 2003-04 Stanley Cup season – and try to reach 50 victories for the first time in team history. Tampa Bay can still win the Atlantic Division with a victory and a Montreal regulation loss to Toronto on Saturday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, SNET-1, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (41-27-13): Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, who snapped a 15-game drought, each scored their team-leading 23rd goal in the loss against Florida, which tallied three times in the third period. Tuukka Rask allowed seven goals in the last two contests after surrendering six combined during a five-game winning streak and is 9-3-0 all time against the Lightning. Center David Krejci has no goals and four assists in eight games since missing a little more than a month with a knee injury.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (49-24-8): Tampa Bay, which has won a franchise-best 31 games at home, was a little sloppy despite pulling out a 4-3 overtime victory against New Jersey on Thursday while improving to 11-4-2 in its last 17 contests. Tyler Johnson scored twice to move within one of his first 30-goal season and captain Steven Stamkos netted his team-best 43rd against the Devils. Left wing Alex Killorn has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, but is expected back for the first game of the playoffs.
OVERTIME
1. Boston’s 18-year-old rookie RW David Pastrnak has three goals and an assist in his first three career games against the Lightning.
2. Tampa Bay’s much-maligned power play has converted seven times in 21 opportunities over the last five games.
3. Boston captain D Zdeno Chara is even in plus-minus for 2014-15 after boasting a plus-14 rating or better in 11 of his previous 12 seasons.