Boston Bruins v Tampa Bay Lightning- Game 1 (Preview)
The first game of the Eastern Conference Final kicks off this Saturday, 14th May 2011 as the Boston Bruins play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Garden. Both the teams are ready for the game and have had quite a lot of time to rest.
During the course of the regular season, the two teams faced each other on four occasions, out of which the Bruins have won three games. The games have generally ended with a close score line of 3-1, or, 4-3, except for one game in December where the Bruins
thrashed the Lightning 8-1.
However, things changed, as expected, when Dwayne Roloson was brought into the Lightning squad and they were able to come up with a 2-1 win.
Both teams have had plenty of resting time with the Lightning completing a clean sweep performance against the Washington Capitals. A night later, the Bruins also completed their dominating performance finishing their series 4-0 against the Philadelphia
Flyers.
However, this shows that both teams are aggressive and will want to win as soon as possible. But this should be kept in mind that the teams need to start from scratch after they didn’t have a competitive time on ice.
"It's awkward to have a week off when you are playing in the playoffs", Boston goalie, Tim Thomas, said. "A part of you certainly wants to just keep going. It helped knowing that Tampa was actually in the same exact situation so everything is going to be
equal starting tomorrow”.
The Lightning has been in superb form, as they won their last seven consecutive games. They knocked out the Penguins in the first round and then the Capitals. During the course of the seven games, the Lightning has successfully scored 29 goals, which is
superb. This shows that they have a strong offence and their defence is brilliant as well since they have conceded only five goals in three losses.
Lightning has seen contributions coming from everywhere as there are 14 players, who have at least a goal to their name while 18 players have scored at least a point.
On the other hand, the Bruins didn’t exactly have the expected start as they lost the first two games against the Montreal Canadiens while playing on home ice. Out of the last nine games, the Bruins have won eight.
For the Bruins, 15 players have scored at least a goal, while 18 players have scored at least a point during the course of the play-offs. Goal keeper of the Bruins, Tim Thomas, has done exceptionally well and he is also expected to win the Vezina Trophy
this time out, as he has stopped 76 straight shots during the second round series.
"His numbers don’t lie, he is a great goalie", Tampa Bay goalie, Dwayne Roloson, said of Thomas. "He's the reason the Bruins are where they are. He's one of those guys that will never quit on a puck. For us to beat him, it's going to be a challenge".
The game is surely going to one that will be close and very entertaining as the two offensive giants in the East collide.
Tags: