BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins (22-15-6, 50 points) will host the Tampa Bay Lightning (27-13-4, 58 points) Tuesday night at TD Garden. Here’s what to watch for:
Going against the best: The Bruins are in the midst of their first three-game winning streak since mid-November and now face the Eastern Conference’s best team for the first of four meetings this season. A win against Tampa would only increase Boston’s confidence level. The Bruins are 31-4-6-0 in their 41 home games against the Lightning.
What have you done lately: The Bruins have earned points in their last seven games, posting a 4-0-3 record. Boston is 7-2-5 in its last 14 games. The Bruins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Saturday. On Monday, the Flyers demolished the Lightning, 7-3, snapping Tampa’s three-game winning streak. In the loss, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 23rd goal of the season. Tampa enters Tuesday’s game as the league’s highest-scoring team with 142 goals. Boston is ranked 18th with 111.
Masked men: Tuukka Rask will start for the Bruins. He’s 17-10-6 with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 34 games this season. He’s 5-0-3 in his last eight starts. Rask is 7-2-0, including three shutouts, a 1.99 GAA and .926 SP in nine career games against the Lightning. Tampa’s Ben Bishop will start against the Bruins. He’s 21-6-2 with a 2.36 GAA and a .901 SP in 33 games this season. In three career starts against the Bruins, Bishop is 0-2-1.
Much of the same: Since the Bruins have won three straight, coach Claude Julien will stick with what’s been working for him. Based on the morning skate, here are the line combinations and defensive pairings:
Brad Marchand-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Milan Lucic-Patrice Bergeron-Daniel Paille
Reilly Smith-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Chris Kelly-Gregory Campbell-Craig Cunningham
Dennis Seidenberg-Adam McQuaid
Sidelined: Tampa will be without the services of forward Tyler Johnson and defenseman Victor Hedman against the Bruins. Both were injured during Monday’s loss to the Flyers. Tampa also recalled center Vladislav Namestnikov from Syracuse of the AHL.