Preview: Bruins kick off weekend slate against Lightning

Mar 25, 2023 - 11:00 AM

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Just the facts

When: Today, 1:00 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, NHLN, SN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Raw Charge

Know your enemy

• 42-25-6, 90PTS, 3^rd in Atlantic Division
• Nikita Kucherov: 73GP, 28G, 74A, 102PTS; Brayden Point: 73GP, 45G, 38A, 83PTS; Steven Stamkos: 72GP, 30G, 44A, 74PTS
• Andrei Vasilevskiy: 31-19-4, 2.70 GAA, .913 save percentage; Brian Elliott: 11-6-2, 3.30 GAA, .891 save percentage

Game notes

• The Boston Bruins host the Tampa Bay Lightning this afternoon at the TD Garden to kick off yet another back-to-back set of weekend games.
• It’s a big weekend with games against two playoff contenders. It should be a good indicator of what’s to come and what the Bruins will need to focus on if the outcome of these games isn’t favorable.
• As there are only 11 games left in the season, this is the final-regular season meeting between these two clubs. The B’s are 2-1-0 against the Lightning so far. They beat the Lightning, 5-3, on Nov. 21, 2022 and by a score of 3-1 on Nov. 26, 2022.
• They last saw Tampa Bay on Jan. 26 – a 3-2 loss. The Bruins never had the lead that game and had to tie the game twice. Victor Hedman broke the tie for the Lightning in the third period to give his team the win.
• Good memories: Even though the last meeting brought a loss, the Nov. 21 game against the Lightning gave Patrice Bergeron his 1,000^th career point.
• David Pastrnak will be look for No. 50 this afternoon. He registered a career high against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, scoring his 49^th goal of the season. He also tied his most points in a season at 95 points with that goal and an assist last game. The last time he put up 95 points was also his 48-goal season in 2019-2020.
• The Lightning come to Boston on a three-game losing streak. They last played on Thursday, losing 7-2 to the Ottawa Senators. In all three losses, Tampa Bay scored two goals a game. Kucherov and Stamkos each had two assists against the Senators.
• Despite the losses, Stamkos and Kucherov continued to add to their points columns. Stamkos is on a five-game point streak with three goals and five assists. Kucherov has one goal and five assists in his last five games.
• In other news: AJ Greer was suspended for one game for cross-checking Mike Hoffman on Thursday.
• See ya soon!