Tampa Bay Lightning look to capture game two of finals against Boston Bruins – NHL playoffs preview
The Tampa Bay Lightning are probably the team with the best record so far when compared to the other three teams that remain in the 2011 National Hockey League playoff conference finals.
With eight consecutive wins in the postseason, Tampa Bay look to make that nine with another win against Boston Bruins in game two of the Eastern Conference finals.
Winning game one against the Bruins on Saturday, they made the last stage before the Stanley Cup finals looked like child’s play. Tampa Bay easily redirected the Bruins in game one when they won 5-2. They look to do it once again at the TD Centre in Boston,
Massachusetts in game two of the finals.
Boston received some good news on Monday when their much needed centre player, Patrice Bergeron participated in a full practice session with the team which was his first since being injured on May 6, 2011 with concussion related issues. As of yet, his status
is still not final on if he will play in game two or not.
“We're going through the protocol of what he has to go through,” Boston Coach Claude Julien told reporters after the off-day practice. “There's not much more to update you guys on except that I think, when he is ready to go, I think you guys will know it.
It's just something that you can't predict how quickly, or how slow it's going to be, but the Lightning believe that he will show up.”
The Bruins 19-year-old rookie, Tyler Seguin participated in place of Bergeron in game one of the Eastern Conference finals. In the first playoff game of his career, Seguin performed better than expected as he scored his first-ever postseason goal after the
Tampa Bay shot three straight in the first period alone.
Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher is prepared for anything and thinks that the Bruins are just playing with them on Bergeron’s unsure return. He says that he will be playing in game two but letting them think that Seguin is still in the line-up is just another
tactic of his. The Lighting are ready for anything that comes their way, which they have showed numerous times.
“We prepared for him playing for the first game, so we're preparing for him,” Boucher said. “We know how important he is to the team. He's a great player. He's a great individual. And that usually has a tendency to uplift your team in terms of confidence.
... It changes a lot of things in terms of the way the game is going to develop.”
Marc Savard, who is another top player for the Bruins, is also missing from the line-up which has affected them a great deal. The 33-year-old centre player has been out since January 2011 which is the second straight season in which he had to go out due
to a concussion.
Whatever the deal might be, both teams have entered the third round with high hopes of reaching the Stanley Cup finals this time around. Tampa Bay are wishful of winning their first Stanley Cup since 2004 when they beat Calgary in a game seven decider which
is not that hard to imagine since their postseason performance this time around is astonishing. Boston still have a lot to improve on their side of the ice which involves team chemistry and they are yet to see their Captain Zdeno Chara play like a leader.
Both teams will face off for the last time in Boston before heading out to Tampa Bay for game three. Game two is scheduled to start at 8:00pm ET at the TD Garden on Tuesday.
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