Lightning vs. Bruins playoff preview

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins
Lightning:54-23-5, 113 points, first in Atlantic
Bruins:50-20-12, 112 points, second in Atlantic
Season series:TBL 1-3-0; BOS 3-1-0

The skinny

Based on head-to-head play during the regular season, the matchup in the Eastern Conference Second Round between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning would seem to favor the Bruins, who won the first three games against their Atlantic Division rivals before a 4-0 loss April 3.
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That loss, however, meant the Lightning would have home-ice advantage in this series after Tampa Bay finished one point ahead of Boston in the regular season (113-112). And that could be significant.
The Bruins largely have had the Lightning's number, dating to the last time they played each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, in the Eastern Conference Final prior to the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup in 2011. That series went seven games, ending with a 1-0 win by Boston in Game 7.
"I think it's an equally formidable, if not even more so, task [than the first round]," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said. "Not a lot of holes in their lineup. We had some success in the regular season against them. We're going to have to find a way to replicate that and probably be even better."
Boston will have to stop the Tampa Bay offense, which brings the kind of scoring depth reminiscent of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. Each relies heavily on its first line; Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak for the Bruins, and J.T. Miller, Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov for the Lightning.
Boston also needs to figure out its goaltending; Tuukka Rask was not at his best against Toronto, especially when compared with the excellence of Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy, who won four of five games for Tampa Bay with a 2.01 goals-against average in a first-round win against the New Jersey Devils.
The Lightning will have been off for a week before Game 1; it's possible that rest could be a negative, but far more likely it's a positive ahead of what should be another bruising series.
"The guys are battling," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "You get that extra time off, it's a good thing. The one thing is, you can't have too much time off. The competition, the atmosphere, the adrenaline is so high in these games, you don't want to step completely out of it."

Game breaker

Bruins: Pastrnak opened plenty of eyes in the first round with three goals and three assists in Game 2, and finished with 13 points (five goals, eight assists). The 21-year-old had 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) this season and found a home on a dominant line with Marchand and Bergeron.

Lightning: Kucherov led Tampa Bay in the first round with 10 points (five goals, five assists). Though he had five points (two goals, three assists) in Tampa Bay's final eight regular-season games, he turned it up once the playoffs began after he finished third in the NHL with 100 points (39 goals, 61 assists).

X-factor

Bruins: When Boston traded for forward Rick Nash on Feb. 25, the idea was he would bolster them down the stretch and provide a big body to play on a line with David Krejci. But Nash didn't play the final 12 games of the regular season because of a concussion. He returned for the first round and had two points (one goal, one assist) in seven games. If Nash can find his game, that would go a long way toward pushing the Bruins into the Eastern Conference Final.
Lightning: Center Brayden Point had 66 points (32 goals, 34 assists) during the regular season and three points (one goal, two assists) in the first round. But his real value came in helping shut down the Devils' top line of Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri. It's possible Cooper will delegate Point's line to do the same against the Bergeron line. If that strategy succeeds, it could have a huge impact on the series.

Goaltending

Bruins: Rask had a 2.94 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in the first round against a talented Maple Leafs offense. That came after a regular season when he won 34 games with a 2.36 GAA and .917 save percentage. He is backed up by Anton Khudobin, who came on in relief in Game 5 and stopped all eight shots he faced.

Lightning: Vasilevskiy started the season 14-1-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .932 save percentage. He tied for the NHL lead with 44 wins (Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets), led in shutouts (eight), and finished the regular season with a 2.62 GAA, .920 save percentage, and as a Vezina Trophy finalist. He was even better in the first round, with a 2.01 GAA and. 941 save percentage in five games.

Numbers to know

Bruins: The biggest number for Boston is .899, Rask's save percentage in the first round, which will have to be better. There were quite a few breakaways and tipped pucks against the Maple Leafs, but that's not going to get it done against the Lightning.
Lightning: Tampa Bay finished the regular season with a 76.1 penalty kill percent, ranking them No. 28 in the NHL. That won't be good enough against Boston's fourth-ranked regular-season power play (23.5 percent), which bumped that scoring rate to 31.8 in the first round.

They said it

"We had pockets of our game in this past series that we know we need to improve upon, and it's going to take our best effort from start to finish to play against Tampa. We're a confident group going in. We deserve to be here." - Bruins general manager Don Sweeney
"[Kucherov] is phenomenal. He is a game-breaker and he can change the game for you. Beyond his point production is his play all over the ice. He's responsible defensively. He's getting pucks deep when he has to, but he can make those [offensive] plays." - Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman

Will win if …

Bruins: They get secondary scoring. Boston overly relied on its top line all season and did so again in the first round. But the second and third lines, in particular, will have to be more efficient against Tampa Bay; especially true for the second-line combination of Krejci and Rick Nash.
Lightning: They watched the Bruins go seven games in the first round, winning Game 7 against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Tampa Bay has been off since Saturday and will have a week of down time before Game 1. That could be a benefit, or it could knock them off their game.

How they look

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Rick Nash
Danton Heinen -- Riley Nash -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Kevan Miller
Matt Grzelcyk -- Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Tommy Wingels, Brian Gionta, Ryan Donato, Nick Holden
Injured: Anders Bjork (shoulder), Brandon Carlo (ankle)

Lightning projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh -- Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Andrej Sustr, Jake Dotchin, Slater Koekkoek, Cory Conacher, Peter Budaj
Injured: Adam Erne (lower body)

Status report

Callahan returned in Game 5 of the first round after missing Games 3 and 4 with a right shoulder injury. … Donato had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 12 games after making his NHL debut but the forward played in one playoff game. … Heinen played in the first five games of the first round against the Maple Leafs but was replaced by Wingels in Game 6 before returning for Game 7.