The Tampa Bay Lightning scored three goals in 85 seconds during Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Final series with the Boston Bruins. The Lightning controlled the rest of the game and got a huge 5-2 road victory to take a 1-0 series lead. The Lightning look to take a two-game lead back to Tampa Bay and win their ninth consecutive post-season game in Game 2 of the series tonight at TD Garden.
Lightning Vs. Bruins, Game 2: Tampa Looks To Take 2-0 Series Lead Back Home
Patrice Bergeron, who has been skating with the Bruins' black aces, will once again not participate tonight. Head coach Claude Julien appears tired of discussing Bergeron.
“I think we need to move on to other things here. I’ve got nothing else to say about Bergeron right now. If we want to talk about the game, I’m open to that. If not, I think we’re done.”
Tyler Seguin will once again step in for Bergeron, which looked to be a smart move in Game 1, where Seguin scored a highlight reel goal and was on the ice for the Bruins other goal on Saturday night.
Julien sees his team as needing a sense of urgency before going into this critical Game 2.
“I think there should always be a sense of urgency. When you look at the way things go in the Playoffs, when you win the first game, basically you tell yourself, if we play .500, we’ve got an opportunity to win here. We’ve got to win four out of the next six games. You win tonight, you’re back to square one. It’s two out of three. That’s what it means.”
Tim Thomas will look to lead the Bruins there, as he's starting in goal again.
As for Tampa Bay, they've already stolen away home ice advantage from Boston, so they're essentially playing with house money this evening. Pavel Kubina will once again not play for Tampa Bay.
“He’s not with us,” head coach Guy Boucher said. “He’s not even here, so the update is not very good. Every day when there seems to be a little progression, it kind of slips back a bit. So it’s kind of an injury that you never know. You wake up the next day and everything’s great or just keeps on going the same way so it’s very hard to monitor what’s going on with him. But obviously we’re missing him. He’s got size. He’s got some offensive abilities on our second power play, he made a big difference on it.”
Boucher says the key is players learning from one another.
“I think we’ve got a great group of people that can rely on each other, because we’ve got all kinds of different experiences. And we do try to learn from each other. And we’ve done that all year long. So there’s no difference in the Playoffs. I think there’s a mutual respect amongst all of us. We’re all there because we bring something to the table. It’s important that we tap into each other’s experience, absolutely.”
Dwayne Roloson once again starts for Tampa.
Read more on the Eastern Conference Final at our Lightning vs. Bruins series hub. Get local coverage on the Bruins at SB Nation Boston and Stanley Cup of Chowder. Get local coverage on the Lightning at Raw Charge and SB Nation Tampa Bay.
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