TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 2 at Ottawa 7
The Tampa Bay Lightning dropped a third-straight game in a 7-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators March 23 at Canadian Tire Centre…Tampa Bay fell to 42-25-6 on the season with a road record of 17-18-1…The Bolts are 1-1-0 vs. OTT this season with one meeting remaining on the schedule April 8 back at Canadian Tire Centre…The Lightning fell into a 2-0 hole early when Alex DeBrincat scored back-to-back goals for OTT at the 8:53 and 11:37 marks of the first period…Entering the second period trailing by two, Tampa Bay got back within one when Nikita Kucherov forced a turnover in the neutral zone before taking a pass from Steven Stamkos and feeding Brayden Point, who quickly snapped a one-timer past Mads Sogaard for his 45th goal of the year with 9:32 left in the middle frame…With the Bolts on the penalty kill, OTT regained the two-goal lead with Derick Brassard scoring a power-play goal at the 18:05 mark of the second…With 15:50 remaining in the third period, Mikhail Sergachev got the Lightning back within one with a power-play goal when he wired a one-timer from the point off a pass from Stamkos with Kucherov recording the secondary helper…OTT got an immediate answer from Erik Brannstrom when he scored 1:35 later to restore the two-goal lead…Brady Tkachuk cored back-to-back goals at the 13:11 and 13:35 marks of the third to make it a 6-2 game before Austin Watson added the final goal with 5:21 remaining in regulation…Brian Elliott got the start in goal and made 28 saves on 34 shots against.
PP: TBL – 1-4 OTT – 2-3
SOG: TBL – 29 OTT – 35
Attendance: 16,133
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and Bruins are playing the fourth of four matchups this season and the second of two meetings at TD Garden…The Bolts are 1-2-0 vs. BOS this season with a 5-3 loss Nov. 21 at AMALIE Arena, a 3-1 loss Nov. 29 at TD Garden and a 3-2 win Jan. 26 at AMALIE Arena…Nikita Kucherov (0-4—4) and Brayden Point (1-3—4) lead Tampa Bay in points vs. BOS this season, while Nick Paul (2-0—2) leads the team in goals…Andrei Vasilevskiy has started all three games vs. BOS this season and has stopped 84 of 93 shots against for a .903 save percentage and 3.06 goals against average…Steven Stamkos has picked up points in three straight games vs. BOS (1-2—3) and nine of the last 11 meetings (8-5—13)…Stamkos has scored a goal in three straight games at BOS and picked up points in five consecutive contests at TD Garden (4-1—5)…Since he entered the league in 2008-09, no NHL player has scored more goals or game-winning goals vs. BOS than Stamkos (26-13—39, 5 GWG, 48 GP)…Kucherov has found the scoresheet in three straight games at BOS (1-2—3)…Point has picked up points in seven of his last 10 games vs. BOS (4-6—10)…Point is riding a four-game point streak at BOS (1-4—5)…Anthony Cirelli has points in four of his last six contests at BOS (3-2—5)…Mikhail Sergachev has recorded four points over his last four games at BOS (1-3—4)…Vasilevskiy is 7-9-2 in 18 career games vs. BOS with one shutout, a .916 SV% and 2.72 GAA…The Lightning are 4-6-0 in their last 10 road games at BOS and 4-5-1 in the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts are 34-60-10 with nine ties all-time vs. BOS, including a road record of 11-36-4 with six ties…Vincent Lecavalier (20-29—49) holds the Lightning franchise record for career points vs. BOS.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. BOS
- Vincent Lecavalier – 49 pts. (20-29—49, 50 GP)
- Steven Stamkos – 39 pts. (26-13—39, 48 GP)
- Martin St. Louis – 34 pts. (15-19—34, 49 GP)
- Victor Hedman – 27 pts. (8-19—27, 48 GP)
- Brad Richards – 25 pts. (6-19—25, 27 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the third game of a four-game road trip tonight…The Bolts will play eight of their 16 games in March on the road…Today, the Lightning will wrap up a 19-game stretch over the course of 33 days, the most games the team has played in a span of 33 days in franchise history…Tampa Bay has not had more than one day between games since February 21 and have played four back-to-backs during that span…The Bolts are 11-10-1 against Atlantic Division opponents and 21-17-3 against the Eastern Conference this season…The Lightning are 17-18- 1 on the road…Tampa Bay can clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with any combination of 10 points gained by Tampa Bay or lost by Florida.
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 104
Current Injuries:
None
BOSTON BRUINS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME
- The Bruins host the Lightning today in the 4th and final game between these teams this season and the 2nd of 2 at TD Garden.
- They are 55-11-5 overall this season and they are 29-3-3 on home ice … The Bruins are 31-7-3 vs Eastern Conference opponents.
- This is the 12th 50-win season in Bruins history … It is their second straight 50-win campaign and the most since 4 straight from 1970-71—1973-74 … The total at the 64-game mark were the fastest 50 wins in NHL history.
- The Bruins are playing today their 14th of 16 matinees this season (local start time 4:00 pm or earlier) … They have a 10-2-1 record in afternoon games so far.
- They open today the 12th of 14 sets of back-to-back games this season … They are currently 9-0-2 in the 1st game of those sets and are 8-3-0 in the 2nd games so far.
- The Bruins conclude a 3-game home stand (2-0-0) today … They will next plat in Carolina on 3/26 before returning home to host Nashville on 3/28 and Columbus on 3/30.
RECENT GAMES:
- The Bruins have won their last 5 games with a 3-0 in Winnipeg on 3/16, 5-3 in Minnesota on 3/18, 7-0 win in Bufffalo on 3/19, 2-1 win vs Ottawa on 3/21 and 4-2 win vs. Montreal on 3/23 … They are 6-3-0 in their last 9 games following a 10-game win from 2/14-3/4 which was tied for the 5th-longest win streak in team history.
- The Bruins are 10-2-0 in their last 12 home games.
- The Bruins are 10-2-0 in their last 12 road games and are 19-4-2 in their last 25 road games, also including a 9-0-1 road point streak from 12/11-1/24 and 7-game win streak from 2/1-28.
- Boston 7 at Buffalo 0 … Patrice Bergeron (GW, 1-2=3 totals) scored 0:15 into the game followed by goals from Garnet Hathaway, Jake DeBrusk (1-3=4), Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak (PP), Charlie Coyle (1-1=2), and Charlie McAvoy (1-1=2) … Brad Marchand and Connor Clifton added 2A each … Jeremy Swayman won his 2nd straight shutout … SOG: Bos 25, Buf 26 … PP: 1/3 … PK: 0/4
- Boston 2 vs Ottawa 1 … Ottawa yielded the opening goal but David Krejci (PP) and Jake DeBrusk (GW) scored twice in a 4:25 span for the win … Hampus Lindholm had 2 assists … Linus Ullmark made 40 saves in the victory … SOG: Bos 35, Ott 41 … PP: 1/4 … PK: 0/3
- Boston 4 vs Montreal 2 … Tyler Bertuzzi (1-1=2 including his 1st as a Bruin), Jake DeBrusk, David Pastrnak (GWG+1 including his career-high 49th goal) and David Krejci scored goals and Connor Clifton added 2A … Jeremy Swayman earned his 3rd straight win … SOG: … PP: 0/5 … PK; 2/5
INJURIES/SUSPENSION (Total man-games lost in 2022-23: 107)
- AJ Greer – serving today a 1-game NHL-imposed suspension
- Derek Forbort – Lower body
- Taylor Hall: Lower body (LTIR)
- Nick Foligno: Lower body (IR)
BOSTON vs TAMPA BAY, LIFETIME SERIES
- The Bruins and Lightning are meeting for the 115th time in their histories with the Bruins having a 71-31-9-3 record and 375-296 scoring advantage in those games.
- The Bruins are 40-9-6-2 lifetime vs. Tampa Bay at home with a 205-136 scoring edge in those 57 contests.
FUN FACTS
- The Bruins currently have 25 players on their roster (1 IR, 1 LTIR) … 12 were drafted by the team, 7 were acquired in trade and 6 were signed as free agents.
- The Bruins play 16 matinees this season (local start time 4:00 pm or earlier) … They have a 10-2-1 record in afternoon games so far.
- The Bruins play 14 sets of back-to-back games this season … They are currently 9-0-2 in the 1st game of those sets and are 8-3-0 in the 2nd games so far.
- The Bruins are playing game 11 of their 15-game March schedule tonight (9 hm/6 rd, 8-3-0) … They will play 7 in April (3 hm/4 rd) … They went 8-1-0 in October, 11- 2-0 in November, 9-1-4 in December, 10-3-1 in January and 9-1-0 in February.
