BOSTON, Mass – The Tampa Bay Lightning come into the Eastern Conference finals on a roll. For the most part the Bruins are on a roll as well, but there is a tinge of concern as the club will try to minimize the loss of assistant captain Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron is out for an undetermined period of time due to a concussion suffered during the waning moments of game four against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The similarities between the two clubs are almost eerie. Both teams finished the regular season with a 46-25-11 record and each club won 8 of its 11 games in the postseason. Both teams enjoy playing a system which forces their respective opponents to wade through a layered haze of defenders. When all else breaks down the teams lean on their respective netminders to bail them out.
Yet the clubs are not identical. Coming into this series the Lightning hold massive advantages over the Bruins in special teams play. During the playoffs Tampa Bay scored on a 26.7% (12-45) clip on the power play while the Bruins were a miserable 5.4% (2-37). The difference was nearly as large on the penalty kill where the Bruins stopped 80.5% (33-41) of the chances against them while the Lightning 94.4% (51-54) was barely scratched.
Meanwhile the Bruins do much of their damage while playing five-on-five hockey. The deciding factor in this series will likely be how each team performs against the other club’s strength. If Tampa Bay can agitate Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara and goad them into undisciplined penalties and reduce the five-on-five time it would make the Lightning’s job all that more easier.
Boston dominated the regular season play between the two clubs thanks to the goaltending of Tim Thomas. Thomas was undefeated in the three games he played, posting a1.50 goals against average with a 95 percent save ratio. That being said the Lightning can easily dismiss the regular season results due to the fact their current starting goaltender, Dwayne Roloson did not face the Bruins during the match-ups.
Each team is missing a key component entering the series. As documented above the Bruins are missing Bergeron while the Lightning enters the series without defenseman Pavel Kubina. Bergeron, who leads the Bruins in scoring and is a key defensive cog, is back on skates. Kubina did not make the trip to Boston and will miss at least the first two games of the series. Both teams have injured players returning to the lineup. Tampa will dress forward Simon Gagne while the Bruins defense gets a boost as Adam McQuaid and Steve Kampfer will both be available for duty.
Forwards
“Star” power goes to the Lightning thanks to the talents of Martin St. Louis, Gagne, Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier. Tampa has also enjoyed the production of Steve Downie, Teddy Purcell and one of the postseason’s break-out players in Sean Bergenheim. Adam Hall, Nathan Thompson, Dominic Moore and Ryan Malone bring grit, character and penalty-killing abilities to the table.
Brad Marchand provides the Bruins with spark and scoring and is the club’s active leading scorer going into the series. The first line of David Krechi, Lucic and Nathan Horton must produce for the club because the second and third lines are modified and weakened by Bergeron’s injury. Chris Kelly will move up to the second line to play with Marchand and Mark Recchi. Rookie Tyler Seguin will be inserted into the lineup and will play on the third line with Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder. The fourth line consists of Gregory Campbell, Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton. The club hopes Ryder will produce again (his two goals came in one game, he is scoreless in the other 10) and Seguin will be on a short leash as he has been all season long.
Advantage: Tampa Bay
Defensemen
Not much has gotten past Chara and Dennis Seidenberg during this year’s playoffs, but they will be tested by the Lightning’s speedy forwards. Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ference form the second pairing with Tomas Kaberle and McQuaid forming the third unit. Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien expressed the importance of McQuaid’s return.
He’s (McQuaid) a pretty steady defenseman. He gives us a size and a toughness,” said Julien. “They (Lightning) got some big guys up front, Lecavalier, some guys that come in and grind it out. We need some size back there, and he’s going to provide us with that.”
Eric Brewer has been a horse for Tampa Bay and averages over five minutes more a game in ice time than any other Lightning player. Tampa Bay head coach Guy Boucher often dresses seven defensemen for each game. Young defenseman Victor Hedman balances the first pairing while Mattias Ohlund and Brett Clark are the third and fourth defenders. Mike Lundin sees steady time while Marc-Andre Bergeron (power play time) and with the absence of Kubina, Randy Jones round out the corps while playing fill-in minutes.
Advantage: Boston
Goaltending
Roloson and Thomas are the starters. Boston has Tuukka Rask in reserve while the Lightning has Mike Smith as a backup. Roloson and Thomas have both played in each and every minute for their respective clubs during the playoffs. They are both capable of stealing games. Roloson has a slight lead statistically during the playoffs, but it’s basically a wash if both of the goaltenders are on their games.
Advantage: Even
What’s likely to happen? It could be the end of the road for the Bruins, yet they have answered all questions about their character during this playoff run. That being said the loss of Bergeron might be too much to bear. In order for Boston to win they will have to get some type of production from their power play. Thomas will be leaned heavily on and if he wins the goaltending battle the Bruins chances increase dramatically. Another x-factor will be Ryder. If the pending free agent to be can somehow heat up and score four or five goals in the series it would likely spell the difference.
Tampa comes in healthier than Boston and they’ve knocked off two clubs ranked higher than they are in the playoffs already. General manager Steve Yzerman and coach Boucher provide steadiness, innovation and project a winning attitude. Speed kills the Bruins and if the Lightning are determined to attack the Bruins it might be better than if they lay back. Boucher has stated his club is similar to the Montreal Canadiens. If Boucher turns his forwards loose with speed it might tilt the ice in their favor and shorten the series in their favor.
Contact Tom.Schettino@prohockeynews.com
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