Boston Bruins (17-11-2, fourth in the Atlantic) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (23-8-5, first in the Atlantic)
Tampa, Florida; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Steven Stamkos leads Tampa Bay into a matchup with Boston. He ranks sixth in the league with 41 points, scoring 16 goals and recording 25 assists.
The Lightning are 8-4-1 against the rest of their division. Tampa Bay ranks sixth in the Eastern Conference averaging 5.6 assists per game, led by Nikita Kucherov with 1.2.
The Bruins are 8-3-1 against the rest of their division. Boston averages 9.0 penalty minutes per game, the ninth-most in the Eastern Conference. Brad Marchand leads the team serving 47 total minutes.
In their last matchup on Dec. 4, Tampa Bay won 3-2. Mikhail Sergachev recorded a team-high 2 points for the Lightning.
TOP PERFORMERS: Stamkos leads the Lightning with 16 goals, adding 25 assists and recording 41 points. Ondrej Palat has 10 points over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Marchand has 31 total points while scoring 12 goals and totaling 19 assists for the Bruins. Patrice Bergeron has 7 points over the last 10 games for Boston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 6-3-1, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.6 assists, 4.4 penalties and 12.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game with an .886 save percentage.
Bruins: 5-3-2, averaging 2.8 goals, 4.6 assists, 4.7 penalties and 10.6 penalty minutes while allowing 2.4 goals per game with a .919 save percentage.
INJURIES: Lightning: Zach Bogosian: day to day (lower body), Ross Colton: out (health protocols).
Bruins: Charlie McAvoy: day to day (lower-body), Tomas Nosek: out (covid-19), Karson Kuhlman: out (covid-19), Jake DeBrusk: out (health and safety protocols).
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