Lightning at Bruins
The Tampa Bay Lightning go after a season-series victory when they visit the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins on Saturday night for the finale of four games, which could be a preview of a future playoff showdown. The Lightning won the first two meetings, including a 4-3 shootout triumph on Oct. 17 in Boston, but fell 2-1 at home on Tuesday as the Bruins started fast and registered a 35-21 edge in shots.
“We’ve got to be better,” Tampa Bay forward Patrick Maroon told reporters of the Bruins matchup after Thursday’s 4-0 win over Montreal. “They’re a good hockey team and that’s why they are where they are in the standings. … It comes down to work ethic and puck battles when you play Boston. It comes down to will.” The Lightning trail the NHL-best Bruins by nine points with one contest in hand as they begin a three-game road trip that moves on to Detroit on Sunday and Toronto on Tuesday while Boston is an impressive 22-3-9 at home overall this season. The Bruins have won four straight, including the last three on the road by allowing just two goals combined, after grinding out a 2-1 overtime victory Thursday at Florida with a goal at 4:08 of the extra session from defenseman Torey Krug to pull within two points of 100. “That’s what we focus on,” Krug told reporters after the win. “We’re trying to bring our A game every night. If you don’t have it then you have to live with your B game and live with the results. Obviously if we can win with that (kind of performance), then it’s a sign of a really good team. We got the win and we move on.”
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: NHL Network, FS Sun, NESN
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (42-20-5): Andrei Vasilevskiy posted his league-leading 34th victory by stopping all 32 shots in Thursday’s win and he could have additional support as defenseman Ryan McDonagh (lower body) is close to returning to the lineup after a month absence. Right wing Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist Thursday to make the scoresheet for the 20th time in his last 21 contests, boosting his team-leading point total to 82. Victor Hedman scored twice against Montreal to reach double figures in goals (11) for the seventh straight season and entered Friday fourth in the league among defensemen with a plus-26 rating.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (43-13-12): Thursday’s win came at a cost as defenseman Brandon Carlo suffered an upper-body injury while forward Ondrej Kase left early with a lower-body ailment and both are questionable for Saturday. David Pastrnak recorded an assist Thursday to give him 23 of his team-leading 93 points in 17 games since the All-Star break, He entered Friday tied with Washington's Alex Overchkin for the league lead with 47 goals. Left wing Brad Marchand is riding an 11-game point streak (five goals, 11 assists) and veteran center Patrice Bergeron reached 30 goals for the sixth time in his career in Thursday’s victory.
OVERTIME
1. Boston G Tuukka Rask stopped 45-of-46 shots to win the last two games and led the league with a 2.13 goals-against average entering Friday.
2. Tampa Bay LW Alex Killorn extended his career high to 25 goals and registered a career-best 48th point Thursday.
3. The Bruins are 11-for-11 on the penalty kill the last three games and entered Friday third in the league at 84.3 percent.