The teams just completed pregame warmups here at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay and the fans in attendance are already clamoring their Lightning-logoed rally drums.
Lightning coach Guy Boucher had center Steven Stamkos on multiple lines in Game 2 -- as high on the top line, in addition to some checking-line duties.
In warmups on Monday, Boucher had the following lines established to open Game 3. I wouldn't count of them remaining this way though.
Nate Thompson-Sean Bergenheim-Dominic Moore
Vinny Lecavalier-Martin St. Louis-Simon Gagne
Steve Downie-Dana Tyrell-Adam Hall
Teddy Purcell-Steve Stamkos-Ryan Malone
Earlier in the day, Stamkos spoke about his recent scoring struggles (5 goals in last 25 games).
"It's something that has been prolonged for my liking, but at the same time I've picked up other aspects of my game that are going to need to be there to be successful in the playoffs so I'm happy where those parts of my game are at," Stamkos said. "Now I'm just trying to find a healthy combination of the both to move forward and help this team win."
Penguins pregame warmup line combinations included:
Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy-Chris Kunitz
Alex Kovalev-James Neal-Mark Letestu
Chris Conner-Pascal Dupuis-Max Talbot
Michael Rupp-Arron Asham-Craig Adams