Need to Know: Bruins at Lightning

TAMPA - Notable lineup changes have been few and far between so far this season for the Bruins, but they'll have one on Thursday night against the Lightning. Coach Jim Montgomery said following an optional morning skate at Amalie Arena that he is opting to bump Taylor Hall up to the top line to play the right wing with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron as Boston's road trip rolls on.
"Just want to see it," said Montgomery, who will also reunite Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle, and Craig Smith on the third line. "It's something we haven't tried. We're always looking at different ways to see if we can use people different ways to just better ourselves. That's what we're gonna do there and give him the opportunity. I've never seen him on his right wing."

Hall is eager for the chance to skate on the Black & Gold's No. 1 trio as the Bruins battle another divisional rival. The former MVP, who has played sparingly on the right wing during his career, is also embracing the challenge of skating on his off side.
"Obviously, it's two great players. I played with Bergy a bit last year when there was some injuries and guys were out, played with March a lot on the power play," said Hall. "It's a great opportunity. I don't think I have to change my game a whole lot. I've lined up on the right side throughout games a lot in my career when we would play 11 forwards and guys would go out during the game.
"It's something that I'm used to, and those are great players. They're easy to play with, they're very easy to read, they play a direct game, a North-South game. That's a game that suits me so I'm excited."

Hall added that he is "used to attacking that side" of the ice and is not anticipating having to make any major adjustments to his game as he switches over to the right wing.
"When we come back into our D-zone after playing in the neutral zone or the O-zone, we kind of just play wherever we end up," said Hall. "The first guy goes down low and when I was playing with Freddy and Coyler, Freddy's on the left side and I would stay on the right side, so not much changes other than some face-off plays that we might run in the O-zone.
"Knowing Bergy, he's probably gonna be the high guy in the slot, things like that, Marchy will be around the net. But those guys are easy to read off of and I don't think I have to change too much what they've been used to playing with."
Marchand, who like Hall has not played much right wing during his career, said he plans to have a pregame chat with his new linemate on Thursday night to make sure they are on the same page when it comes to being in the right spots in all three zones.
"I'll talk to him tonight and we're just gonna have an understanding that first guy back, if you end up on the left, I'll play right," said Marchand. "I'm not really too concerned about where we end up. We're pretty much interchangeable on the wing there. It's more just that we're gonna be ready off each other when we come back in the zone. The more we talk out there, the easier it will be for the most part."

Opposing View

The Lightning have lost two of their last three, but are 6-2-0 over their last eight games, as they maintain an eight-point lead over Buffalo for third place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa has played extremely well on home ice, having won 10 straight at Amalie Arena, while boasting an 18-4-1 home record this season.
Tampa, which comes into the game at full health, is paced by Nikita Kucherov who has 68 points (19 goals, 49 assists) in 46 games this season. Brayden Point leads the club with 27 goals, while Steven Stamkos, who recently tallied his 500th career goal, has registered 24 goals and 55 points.
Boston has won both of the first two meetings between the teams this season - a 5-3 victory on Nov. 21 at Amalie Arena and a 3-1 win on Nov. 29 at TD Garden.
"I think we play our game against them," said Hall. "I think we know it's a big challenge and we get up for it. They've won a lot at home recently. They're playing well. They seem to have a healthy lineup and that's a really big challenge for us. We relish that.
"At times this year, we've maybe against some of the weaker teams, we haven't played our brand of hockey. But against the strong teams, we have this year and that's gonna be a staple of our team, especially going forward into the playoffs.
"They've got a lot of depth. There's a reason they've been to three Finals in a row. They know how to win and they know how to play in these games. I think we're all really excited for it."
Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to the start in goal for Tampa. He is 21-12-1 with a 2.54 goals against average and .917 save percentage.

Thursday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Taylor Hall
Pavel Zacha - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
Nick Foligno - Joona Koppanen - A.J. Greer
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Connor Clifton
GOALIES
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman