Practice Update: Bruins Set Sights on Tampa

TAMPA BAY- When the Bruins and Lightning take the ice on Saturday night, it will be a battle of two Eastern Conference heavy weights. The two teams enter the matchup as the first and second ranked team in the conference, and with the second and third most points in the NHL behind only Nashville (102).
"Great team, obviously, they've had a lot of success this year," said defenseman Torey Krug. "Big moment for us. If we want a chance to catch them, it probably starts with [Saturday]. We play them a couple more times down the road, so set the tone in that regard, and it's a good test. I know a lot of guys in here are excited about it."

Separated by merely four points in the standings with two more meetings still to come, the two squads recognize the importance of these games.
"We [play] the best team in the national hockey league, arguably, at home, rested," said head coach Brue Cassidy. "We look forward to the challenge."

The Bruins will be tasked with halting the dynamic Tampa offense, led by Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos.
"They're a high scoring team," said Cassidy. "We talked about that with our goaltending and our D today. We better be on because they'll be coming. Our forwards, they're going to have to help out in that area."
Kucherov leads the NHL in points with 91, and his 34 goals and 57 assists both top the Lightning. Stamkos follows close behind. His 27 goals, 55 assists and 82 points all rank second on the team, and the Lightning captain also ranks 6th in the NHL in points.
"I think you do have to score to a certain extent against this team," said Cassidy. "Because you're not going to be able to - it's very tough to shut them down completely. That's our game plan, whoever is in the lineup.
"They have to be ready for it because that's the way it works, and it has worked for us all year. We need everyone to do their part and do it well."

Backes Update

David Backes received a match penalty in Thursday's game against Florida. Backes has not heard from the department of player safety and there is not expected to be any further discipline.
"After seeing it," said Cassidy. "We didn't feel there would be anything further. It looks like he came through his chest or shoulder more than anything. At the end of the day, I believe that will be the case and he'll be ready to go tomorrow."
Backes is looking ahead to Saturdays game against the Lightning.
"As far as getting the five-minute penalty back and match penalty," said Backes. "That's kind of in the past now, and we can't touch that. So, we don't get two points out of the game, unfortunately, and we've got to move on to the game tomorrow night against a team we're chasing in the standings."

Latest On Injury Front

The Bruins were short a number of key players against the Panthers, including Patrice Bergeron (fractured right foot), Charlie McAvoy (sprained right MCL), Zdeno Chara (upper-body) and Jake DeBrusk (upper-body). Cassidy provided an update on the injured players after practice in Tampa on Friday.
"I think everyone is doing well," said Cassidy. "No one has had setbacks. That's a positive. I haven't heard a lot. Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] and Charlie [McAvoy] I assume are on their protocol and nothing bad has happened, they're not with us.
"Zee [Zdeno Chara] felt better but he's still out tomorrow. Jake [DeBrusk] felt better but he's out as well."
Torey Krug was a game-time decision on Thursday against the Panthers. The defenseman left the Bruins previous game, a 6-4 win in Carolina, with an undisclosed injury. Despite the questions about his health leading up to the game, Krug played a team leading 26:35 time on ice.
"He's fine now," said Cassidy. "Practiced today out there. He was competitive. Clearly, he's ok. Some guys did - we're trying to get back in the game, offensive players are going to see more minutes."
Krug recognized that his minutes reflected the Bruins efforts to generate more offense.
"It's one of those games, we're down pretty early and trying to catch up all game," said Krug. "It's probably going to mean more minutes for guys like myself, and I felt good overall."

Heinen Snapping Out of Funk:After breaking a 15-game scoring drought against Carolina, Danton Heinen added another strong performance against the Panthers. In 15:23 time on ice, Heinen finished second among forwards with five shots on goal.
"I thought he was good last night," said Cassidy. "He was one of our better players. So hopefully this is the start of him coming out of it and getting hot here late, especially with Jake out. Bergy, we miss his production. That's a good thing for Danton."