Bruins at Lightning
The Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak line looks to match their performance from the opener when the Boston Bruins visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Marchand (one goal) and Pastrnak (four assists) each posted four points while Bergeron had two goals to go along with an assist as the trio combined for a plus-12 rating in Saturday’s 6-2 victory.
“It’s another character win for us. Now we just move on to Game 2,” Pastrnak told reporters. “We’re having fun. We need to play a little bit simple, especially at the beginning and just put pucks deep. We are good when we’re fast on the forecheck and getting pucks back, so we just need to keep playing like that.” Tampa Bay finished with a 36-24 edge in shots in Game 1, but could not contain the top line and made just enough mistakes to thwart their chance to climb back in the contest after falling behind 2-0. “We have to raise the battle level in the defensive zone,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “For all the battle level we had in the offensive zone, if we turn that into the defensive zone for some of those plays, maybe they don’t go in.” Tampa Bay’s leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (five goals, 10 points in the playoffs) attempted eight shots in Game 1 and only two ended up on net while the Lightning got goals from defensemen Dan Girardi and rookie Mikhail Sergachev.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVA
ABOUT THE BRUINS: Goalie Tuukka Rask made 34 saves in Game 1, including several big stops in the first period and with a one-goal lead later in the contest, after a subpar performance in the first round against Toronto (.899 save percentage). “It’s a new series,” Rask told reporters. “You try to come off on top in the first game, try to get the lead. That’s what my focus was. Like every game, you try to give your team a chance to win.” Left wing Rick Nash scored twice in the series opener after managing one goal in the first round and rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy added two assists to give him three in the playoffs.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING: The Ondrej Palat-Brayden Point-Tyler Johnson line, along with defensemen Anton Stralman and Ryan McDonagh, was matched up against the Bergeron trio in Game 1 and likely will get the job again - if all are healthy - despite the numbers. “There was just some tough coverage moments where I think everything they shot went in,” Cooper told reporters. “They were opportunistic, but that’s how you win games.” Point, who was a minus-5 in Game 1, and Palat (minus-4, five shots) missed practice Sunday for body maintenance but Cooper told reporters Sunday that they both should be fine for Game 2.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay G Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is 1-4-1 in six career regular-season games with a .922 save percentage versus Boston, stopped 18 of 23 shots Saturday.
2. Pastrnak has 17 points, second-most in franchise history for the first eight playoff games behind Rick Middleton (19 in 1983).
3. Lightning D Victor Hedman, a finalist for the Norris Trophy, notched an assist in Game 1 after failing to post a point in the first round.