Pre-Game Talk: ECF: #3 Boston Bruins vs. #5 Tampa Bay Lightning - Welcome to the Conference Finals

[NinthSpoke06]

#3 SEED......................#5 SEED
Boston Bruins @ Tampa Bay Lightning
(8-3 in playoffs)................(8-3 in playoffs)
vs.

GAME	LOCATION	TIME	DATE	TV
1	TD Garden	TBD	TBD	TBD
2	TD Garden	TBD	TBD	TBD
3	St. Pete Times Forum	TBD	TBD	TBD
4	St. Pete Times Forum	TBD	TBD	TBD
5*	TD Garden	TBD	TBD	TBD
6*	St. Pete Times Forum	TBD	TBD	TBD
7*	TD Garden	TBD	TBD	TBD

EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF MATCHUPS
3. vs. 5.

WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF MATCHUPS
1. vs. 5.
VANCOUVER LEADS SERIES 3-1

2. vs. 3.
SAN JOSE LEADS SERIES 3-1

STAT LEADERS

BRUINS	STAT	LIGHTNING
Horton, Marchand, Krejci - 5	Goals	Sean Bergenheim - 7
Patrice Bergeron - 10	Assists	Downie, Purcell - 10
Patrice Bergeron - 12	Points	Martin St. Louis - 13
Zdeno Chara - +11	+/-	Steve Downie - +9
Patrice Bergeron - 30	Hits	Eric Brewer - 32
Milan Lucic - 31	PIM	Steve Downie - 20
Patrice Bergeron - 64.2	FO%	Steven Stamkos - 50.4
David Krejci - 20:45	TOI/G F	Martin St. Louis - 21:41
Zdeno Chara - 28:41	TOI/G D	Eric Brewer - 26:09

INJURIES

PLAYER	INJURY	STATUS
BOSTON	BRUINS	INJURIES
Marc Savard	Concussion	Out for Season
Steven Kampfer	Knee	Out Indefinitely
Adam McQuaid	Neck	Day-to-Day
TAMPA BAY	LIGHTNING	INJURIES
Matt Smaby	Lower Body	Out Indefinitely
Dana Tyrell	Foot	Day-to-Day
Pavel Kubina	Upper Body	Day-to-Day
Simon Gagne	Head	Day-to-Day

BOSTON BRUINS PROJECTED LINES
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Mark Recchi
Rich Peverley - Chris Kelly - Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg - Tomas Kaberle
Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid

Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING PROJECTED LINES
Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis
Vinny Lecavalier - Teddy Purcell
Sean Bergenheim - Dominic Moore - Steve Downie
Blair Jones - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall

Mattias Ohlund - Eric Brewer
Victor Hedman - Brett Clark
Mike Lundin - Randy Jones
Marc-Andre Bergeron

Dwayne Roloson
Mike Smith


2011 Playoffs: 8-3, 2.03 GAA, .937 GAA, 0 SO

PROJECTED GOALIES

2011 Playoffs: 8-3, 2.01 GAA, .941 SV%, 1 SO

[patty59]

This is going to be a hell of a series, I think the Bruins can win this one but it's not going to be easy. Roloson is a great goalie and he has the ability to get in a groove and it seems he's in one right now. Thomas has been huge for us up to this point and I don't expect anything to change.

The keys will be to stay out of the box, their PP is deadly. I think our forwards will be able to cycle the puck on Tampa's D similar to what we did with Philly.

[Theodoriph]

Not to nitpick, but why does Tampa's second line only have two people on it?

[ksp1957]

I'm going with Bruins in 6. I'm still revelling in the win over the Flyers but this could be the year the Bruins go to the Stanley Cup Finals.

[774EVER]

This thread title makes me happy.

Now give me some good news on Bergy, and I'm really happy.

1992...wow

[Twisted Tales]

It's going to be a tough one. Both teams are on a hot streak. TB has won 7 in a row (8 of last 9) and Boston have won 5 in a row (8 of last 9).

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

Should be an easy series if Seguin plays.

[WhamBamCam8]

Originally Posted by KesselBuiltMyHotrod

Should be an easy series if Seguin plays.

Yeah, agreed...for Tampa.

[Confound]

Boston in 5 if Bergy is healthy, Boston in 6 if he isn't.

[David Krejci]

Hope Bergeron's okay.

[MasqueOfTheRedDeath*]

Originally Posted by WhamBamCam8

Yeah, agreed...for Tampa.

I'm not sure why that dude even pretends to like hockey. 90% of his posts involve wrestling (enough said)

[NinthSpoke06]

Originally Posted by Theodoriph

Not to nitpick, but why does Tampa's second line only have two people on it?

Because they usually double shift someone from the first line on that wing and play 7 defensemen.

[Confound]

I actually voted Boston sweeps on the main board poll.

[lextune]

Voting before learning Bergy's status is useless.

If Bergy is fine and we play like we have been; we win in 5 or 6.

If he is out it is a total crap-shoot, but I could see us being swept.

[lextune]

Originally Posted by KesselBuiltMyHotrod

Should be an easy series if Seguin plays.

[misterjaggers]

We'll soon learn just how important Bergeron is.
But, of course, Julien will be blamed if we don't advance.

[Dojji*]

If Bergeron plays Tampa is a speedbump. Roloson has played a lot and is old, we ought to be able to expose him. It'll come down to shutting down the TB offense and power play and Bergeron is a HUGE part of that.

[Confound]

Like I said on the main board, I am not one bit scared of Tampa. They beat a Crosby/Malkin less Penguins team that still took them to 7 games, and beat an overrated Caps team that if the Caps even faced anyone in the first round besides the Rangers they would have lost.

[NinthSpoke06]

Originally Posted by NathanSeguin

Because they usually double shift someone from the first line on that wing and play 7 defensemen.

Should be mentioned that, that will change if Simon Gagne returns for Tampa (he would fill that empty 2nd line LW slot).

[Bruinator]

Regardless of the outcome, Steve Yzerman is a Hockey God.

[IdealisticSniper]

Originally Posted by NathanSeguin

Should be mentioned that, that will change if Simon Gagne returns for Tampa (he would fill that empty 2nd line LW slot).

Not entirely true. We have played with 7 dmen for a good chunk of the year. Boucher likes that setup as it gives him lots of options both up front and on the backend.

[Arthur*]

I just realized, the last the the Bruins were in the ECF, there was no Tampa Bay Lightning.

[NinthSpoke06]

Originally Posted by IdealisticSniper

Not entirely true. We have played with 7 dmen for a good chunk of the year. Boucher likes that setup as it gives him lots of options both up front and on the backend.

I was talking about the 2nd line. If Gagne is healthy he will fill on the 2nd line and maybe Blair Jones gets scratched.

[Bmf316nhl]

does Randy Jones get booed every time he touches the puck?

[finchster]

Originally Posted by KesselBuiltMyHotrod

Should be an easy series if Seguin plays.

Just wanted to use this gif