The Boston Bruins will try to avoid falling behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, Tuesday May 17th, for Game 2 at the TD Garden. The Bruins took three out of four from Tampa Bay this year and outscored the Lightning by a combined 15-8 margin in the regular-season series. NHL oddsmakers have the Bruins as -150 moneyline home favourites over the Lightning (+135) with the over/under set at 5.5 goals. Be sure to check the Lightning vs Bruins NHL Point Spreads and get your predictions in early.
Tampa Bay (9-3, 6-1 V) grabbed the early lead in this best-of-seven series by taking Saturday's Game 1 in Boston by a 5-2 score. The Bolts scored three goals, by Sean Bergenheim, Brett Clark and Teddy Purcell, in an 85-second span in the first period and Dwayne Roloson made 31 saves to make that early lead stand up. Roloson leads the playoffs with nine wins, a 2.01 goals-against average and .941 save percentage — or in Game 1 against Boston, when he stopped 31 shots in a 5-2 win, Tampa Bay has to like its chances. But more than his ability to gobble up shots, suppress rebounds and deftly deflect shots into corners and away from danger, it is how Roloson blocks out distractions and focuses on his task that most impresses coaches and teammates. "I've rarely seen an athlete focus that high on what he needs to do to perform," goaltenders coach Frantz Jean said.The Bolts have won eight straight and hasn’t lost since it fell behind three- games-to-one against Pittsburgh in the opening round.
Boston (8-4, 4-3 H) showed signs of rust in the opener on Saturday, but head coach Claude Julien is expecting his club to rebound in Game 2. "Let's not over analyze this situation," Julien said. "You can do better as a team and not worry so much about the other team." Bruins rookie Tyler Seguin scored to make it a 3-1 game by the end of the first, but Boston would never get closer than that. Johnny Boychuk had a late goal for Boston, while Tim Thomas made 29 saves in defeat. "I think we could have had a better effort," said Julien. "We're going to need to be better." The 19-year-old Seguin, who was the second overall pick in last summer's draft, skated in his first NHL playoff game on Saturday and he could be in the lineup again tonight if concussed forward Patrice Bergeron is unable to go in Game 2. What the Bruins need to do to beat Bruins goalie Roloson is get more traffic in front of the net, right wing Nathan Horton said: "If he sees it, he's going to stop it. That's what you get when you have a great goalie. We have to get in front of him. We just weren't in that spot (in Game 1)." Whether it was conditioning or adjusting to a new team for the first time in his career, Kaberle's transition in Boston has been anything but seamless. Kaberle was supposed to help elevate the Bruins' special-teams attack, but their power play has been a dud all spring, scoring twice on 41 attempts. Kaberle has become less and less of a factor at even strength, too, as Julien has slowly whittled away his ice time. After playing 20:44 and 28:04 in the first two games of the playoffs (both losses against Montreal, by the way), Kaberle is now regularly reduced to fewer than 20 minutes a night. Three times in the past 10 games, he's played fewer than 15 minutes.
Recent Trends to Consider:
Over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
Lightning are 14-32-5 in the last 51 meetings.
Lightning are 4-18-4 in the last 26 meetings in Boston.
Lightning are 7-0 in their last 7 games as an underdog.
Lightning are 6-0 in their last 6 road games.
Lightning are 5-0 in their last 5 games as an underdog of +110 to +150.
Lightning are 4-0 in their last 4 games as a road underdog of +110 to +150.
Lightning are 8-0 in their last 8 vs. a team with a winning record.
Bruins are 6-1 in their last 7 vs. Southeast.
Bruins are 5-1 in their last 6 vs. a team with a winning record.
Lightning vs Bruins
When: Tuesday, May-17, 8:00 PM ET
Pick: Lightning +135
Point-Spreads.com recommends you check out NHL Point Spreads before Lightning vs Bruins game.
The Bottom Line: The Lightning are scoring at will and stopping goals at will. Be sure to check Lightning vs Bruins Hockey Point Spreads and get your predictions in early.
