Tampa Bay Lightning v Pittsburgh Penguins, game three – NHL Play-offs (preview)
The Tampa Bay Lightning will host Pittsburgh Penguins in game three of their Eastern Conference series at St. Pete Times Forum.
The first two games of the series were won by the Bolts on away ice.
The first game witnessed the Penguins taking charge and scoring three goals during the game and winning with a shutout 3-0 performance. However, the Bolts tightened the screws in the second game and were very dominating in game two.
Their offence was absolutely superb at the opening stages of game and at the end of the first period they were leading 3-0. Their offence that was said to be very weak for the series in game one showed that they had the capability of beating any team.
In the end, the Bolts won the game 5-1 with goals from Martin St. Louis, Nate Thompson, Eric Brewer and Vincent Lecavalier scoring the winning goal of the game.
The win also saw this Lightning team write their names in history, as they became the first team in franchise history to score five goals during a regulation time play-off game.
The Bolts are back in town and will be high on confidence after levelling the series with an away win. During game two, the Bolts coach, Guy Boucher, changed the combinations so that they could work for Steven Stamkos.
Stamkos is taking part in his very first postseason and the young star hasn’t been able to score a single point so far in the two games that have taken place. Though in the second game he created quite a few chances, he was unable to register his name on
the score sheet.
"I don't want him thinking about scoring, I want him to be thinking about competing and fighting because that's what the playoffs are all about", Boucher said. "It's not about skill, it's everything but skill, and then the skill comes out once in a while".
The Penguins don’t look at all bothered after losing their home game against Bolts because they are proud holders of a strong statistic, most wins on the road piling up a total of 24 wins.
If that doesn’t mean much then the Penguins will look at the stat that has seen them winning six of their last seven road games.
"In a situation like Friday, where they get a three-goal lead, they put very little energy into the offensive side of the puck or being aggressive", Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.
With the Penguins strong on away ice but missing important players, the game can go either way.
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