TAMPA, Fla. – A date at TD Garden with the Bruins on Tuesday night stands between the Lightning and breaking even on a four-game post-break trip.
The Bolts came out of the break by losing in back-to-back evenings to the Rangers and Islanders. They recorded a total of 38 shots on goal in the two games before playing a noticeably better brand of hockey at Columbus, where they registered 37 shots on goal in a well-earned 4-2 victory Saturday night.
Points are precious and with 29 games remaining the Lightning will take them however they can.
“After the two games we had coming out of the break, we needed the points,” said Steven Stamkos, following Saturday’s win. “There are things we need to work on. We were running around a little bit. We were on our heels a little too much in (defensive) zone. We needed to be more aggressive, but we needed the two points and we got them.”
Because of that, the Lightning (28-20-5) head into their game at Boston with 61 points after having won nine of 12. They are third in the Atlantic Division and have put at least a bit of breathing room between themselves and those on the outside looking in.
While Toronto (60 points, 50 games) and Detroit (60/51) occupy the wild card spots heading into Tuesday’s action, the Lightning have a five-point lead on the Devils (56/51) and Islanders (56/52), both of which are the other side of the velvet rope.
Of course, the Lightning have to take care of their business and that means going up against quite a schedule this week. The Bruins have an East-leading 73 points and, like the Bolts, have lost two of three following the break. A 3-0 setback at home to Washington on Saturday had some boo birds cascading down upon coach Jim Montgomery’s team.
Colorado, which has lost three straight, visits Amalie Arena on Thursday for the Bolts’ first home game since January 27. The Avalanche have 68 points and are two behind Dallas for the Central Division lead. It will be a marquee matchup between the league’s top two scorers with Nikita Kucherov (89 points) four points ahead of the Avs’ Nathan MacKinnon.
The Panthers are in town Saturday evening. Paul Maurice’s team is three points behind the Bruins in the Atlantic and nine ahead of Tampa Bay.
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