Boston Bruins (44-21-5, third in the Atlantic) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (43-20-7, fourth in the Atlantic)
Tampa, Florida; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay looks to stop its three-game slide when the Lightning take on Boston.
The Lightning are 12-7-2 against the rest of their division. Tampa Bay ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference averaging 5.6 assists per game, led by Nikita Kucherov with 0.9.
The Bruins are 25-13-2 against conference opponents. Boston ranks 28th in the Eastern Conference with 36.0 shots per game and is averaging 3.2 goals.
In their last meeting on March 24, Boston won 3-2. David Pastrnak recorded a team-high 3 points for the Bruins.
TOP PERFORMERS: Steven Stamkos leads the Lightning with 79 points, scoring 32 goals and adding 47 assists. Kucherov has three goals and 10 assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Brad Marchand leads the Bruins with 71 points, scoring 31 goals and adding 40 assists. Jake DeBrusk has six goals over the last 10 games for Boston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 4-5-1, averaging 2.9 goals, five assists, 4.9 penalties and 11.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game with a .903 save percentage.
Bruins: 7-3-0, averaging 4.1 goals, 7.3 assists, 5.6 penalties and 15.3 penalty minutes while allowing 2.7 goals per game with a .901 save percentage.
INJURIES: Lightning: Ryan McDonagh: out (upper-body).
Bruins: Hampus Lindholm: day to day (lower body), Trent Frederic: day to day (upper body), David Pastrnak: day to day (undisclosed).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by
