Tampa Bay Lightning face another crucial game in which a loss will knock them out of the Stanley Cup running
Tampa Bay Lightning has been cruising through the past three series with close encounters and once again, for the second time during the past three series, Tampa Bay Lightning faces a very crucial game. This is the sixth and seventh game of the Conference Finals series against Boston Bruins who are currently leading the series by 3-2, and need just one win to move on to the Stanley Cup Finals and oust Lightning from the competition along the way.
The outcome of the sixth game that takes place tomorrow at the St. Pete Times Arena, puts forward a do-or-die situation across Lightning.
They trail the Eastern Conference Finals by 3-2 against the Boston Bruins and certainly need to perform exceptionally well if they want to avoid an exit from the Finals.
Guy Boucher, Lightning’s coach rested Dwayne Roloson in the fifth game and gave fourth game hero, Mike Smith, the starting position in the last game.
This strategy didn’t work out for Lightning and left the coach with no choice but to put Roloson back into the starting line-up.
"He was the guy that took us here and that's how I felt before last game; but like I said, I felt like it was time to give him a little breather", Boucher said. "At the same time I felt that [Smith] played really well. So it's a perfect situation to put [Smith] in. If something were to go wrong in the previous game, put a new goaltender in for a do-or-die, I don't think it would have been a good moment for anybody”.
Roloson played a major role in putting Lightning back on track after the first round series saw them trailing Pittsburgh Penguins. The final three games of the series that Lightning won, witnessed Roloson piling up 94 saves.
Indeed this played a major role in boosting Lightning’s confidence as they came back from 3-1 down to move to the second round.
However, if Lightning wishes to level the series then they not only need the goalkeeper to perform well, but they need a strong performance from one of the forward players as well.
There are some big and productive players in the team like captain, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos who will be looked for when goals are needed from the team.
For now, Lecavalier and Stamkos have been struggling badly in the last three games as Lecavialier bagged just one assist with St. Louis, having a single goal to his name.
"Obviously we’ve got to be there", St. Louis said. "We’re trying to do the best we can, but sometimes the best we can is not enough. We’ve got to do more".
Another player from whom Lightning will be expecting a good and strong performance is Sean Bergenheim.
The thing that Lightning needs to work on is their play during the power-plays. Before this series, it was the top team when it came to power-plays but it hasn’t shown the same form this time out and if it wants to win, it definitely has to improve.
Tags: