It's Boston's first appearance in a conference final since 1992, so waiting a few extra days shouldn't be a big deal. Opening the series without playoff leading scorer Patrice Bergeron could be a bigger issue. He remains out indefinitely after suffering a concussion against Philadelphia.
Can the Bruins overcome that loss to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990 and continue their quest for their first championship since 1972? Here's how Boston stacks up against the Lightning in the Tale of the Tape.
Offense
The Bruins have succeeded in the postseason with a balanced attack, but they'll be missing a key component with Bergeron sidelined. He was leading the Bruins in scoring with 2-10-12 totals in 11 games. Chris Kelly, who's been a surprising source of offense with 4-3-7 totals on the third line, moves up between Brad Marchand (5-6-11) and Mark Recchi (2-5-7). Tyler Seguin will make his payoff debut on the third line with Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder, who have each chipped in some timely goals. The top line will be the key for the Bruins though. Nathan Horton (5-5-10, 2 OT winners) has been strong all postseason in his first playoffs, while David Krejci came alive with nine points in four games against the Flyers after managing just one point in seven games vs. Montreal. Milan Lucic, who led the Bruins with 30 goals in the regular season, finally scored his first two goals of the postseason in Game 4 against Philadelphia. The Bruins hope that's a sign of things to come, and that Krejci can continue to pile up points as Boston tries to cope with the loss of Bergeron.
The Lightning possess a deep and talent offense led by Martin St. Louis (6-7-13), Vincent Lecavalier (5-7-12) and Steven Stamkos (4-2-6 but 45-46-91 in regular season), a trio that has been skating together frequently in the postseason. Even with those stars together on one line, the Lightning have plenty of depth with Steve Downie (2-10-12), Teddy Purcell (1-10-11), Sean Bergenheim (7-1-8) and Dominic Moore (2-6-8). They'll also be getting Simon Gagne back from a head injury. He had 2-5-7 totals in eight games before being hurt, and the Bruins know all too well the impact he can have. He returned from a foot injury in Game 4 for the Flyers last year and had four goals, including the winners in Games 4 and 7 to spark Philadelphia's rally from a 3-0 series deficit.
Advantage: Lightning
Defense
The Bruins have a strong top six led by Norris Trophy finalist Zdeno Chara and top pairing partner Dennis Seidenberg. That duo has logged huge minutes this postseason and come up huge at both ends of the ice. Claude Julien's reshuffling of the pairs to put them together and unite Andrew Ference and Johnny Boychuk on the second pairing has paid dividends with both sets of blueliners providing strong two-way play. That foursome will get some more help as Adam McQuaid is expected to return in Game 1 after missing the final two games of the Philadelphia series with a sprained neck. Shane Hnidy filled in but played just 2:38 and 2:37 in Games 3 and 4. McQuaid is averaging 12:47 a game in the playoffs even after leaving Game 2 in the first period when he was hurt, so that will relieve some pressure on the other defensemen. Tomas Kaberle hasn't had the impact expected since being acquiring from Toronto, but may be better suited to play against a more skilled team like Tampa than he was against the physical Flyers.
The Lightning have some strong pieces on defense in 2009 No. 2 overall pick Victor Hedman and trade deadline pickup Eric Brewer, who has been a stabilizing force since his arrival. But Pavel Kubina remains questionable with a head injury and the rest of the defense is a bit suspect. Mattias Ohlund can still dish out punishing hits but his best days are behind him, Marc-Andre Bergeron is a power-play specialist who's a liability defensively at even strength and Brett Clark has no points in 11 games.
Advantage: Bruins
Goaltending
Tim Thomas was named a Vezina finalist after posting 35-11-9 record with a league-leading 2.00 GAA, an NHL-record .938 save percentage and nine shutouts in the regular season. After some shaky moments early in the Montreal series, he has proven he can be just as effective in the postseason as he has put up nearly identical numbers with a 2.03 GAA and a .937 save percentage. He won Game 2 against the Flyers almost singlehandedly with a 52-save effort in a 3-2 overtime win, which came on the heels of two spectacular efforts in OT wins over the Habs in Games 5 and 7 of the opening round.
Believe it or not, the 37-year-old Thomas is actually the youngster in this netminding matchup. But 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson is hardly showing his age either. His arrival in a late-season deal with the Islanders may have been Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman's most important move, as Roloson stabilized a shaky goaltending situation down the stretch and has been outstanding in the playoffs. His numbers are actually a hair better than Thomas' at a 2.01 GAA and a .941 save percentage, and Roloson has had success before in the playoffs when he lead Edmonton to the Cup Finals in 2006.
Advantage: Even
Special teams
The Bruins led the league in 5-on-5 scoring with 177 goals in the regular season and are setting the pace again with 31 goals while 5-on-5 in the playoffs, plus another skating 4-on-4 and three empty-netters. They've needed that even-strength production because the power play has been dismal, failing to convert their first 30 chances of the postseason. Boston did convert two of its final seven chances in the Flyers series to show some signs of life, but a 5.4-percent success rate is still pretty horrific. The penalty kill has come up big in some key spots but still ranks 10th of 16 playoff teams at 80.5 percent (8 goals on 41 chances), and now will be without top penalty killer Bergeron.
The Lightning are the polar opposite of the Bruins, as they have relied on their power play for much of their scoring. Tampa leads all playoff teams with 12 power-play goals, converting 45 chances (26.7 percent). St. Louis has an NHL-high seven power-play points in the postseason, but Tampa has plenty of balance on the man-advantage with seven different players with power-play goals and 13 with power-play points. The Lightning penalty kill has been even more impressive, holding the potent power plays of Pittsburgh and Washington to just three goals on 54 chances (94.4 percent). Advantage: Lightning, and this one isn't close
Coaching
Claude Julien finally got through the second round for the first time in four tries after losing once at that stage with Montreal and in Games 7s each of the previous two years in Boston. Overall, he's now 29-24 in the playoffs, with a 5-4 series record. That's a lot more experience than Tampa Bay's first-year coach Guy Boucher, but a lack of experience hasn't hurt Boucher yet this postseason as he's outdueled Dan Bylsma and Bruce Boudreau in the first two rounds. Boucher is an innovative thinker who's gotten the Lightning veterans to buy into his system, which includes a stifling 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap. There's no denying that Boucher is one of the bright young stars of the NHL's coaching ranks, but Julien has been pulling all the right strings since settling his troops after dropping the first two games against Montreal.
Advantage: Bruins
Intangibles
The Lightning have a big advantage on the injury front, as they'll be getting Gagne back while the Bruins have lost Bergeron for at least the start of the series. Philadelphia getting Gagne back last year at the same point when Boston lost Krejci was the turning point of that series. The Bruins have to hope this scenario plays out more favorably. The Bruins do have home ice for this round. While Boston had a better record on the road in the regular season and lost its first two playoff games at the Garden, the Bruins have won their last four at home and hold a big mental edge on the Lightning in Boston. Tampa Bay has won just four times in 35 games in Boston. If the Bruins can take the first two games at the Garden in this series, that lack of success in Boston could weigh heavily on the Lightning if the series comes back to Boston for Games 5 and 7.
Both teams had plenty of momentum after posting sweeps in the last round. Tampa Bay has won seven straight games overall, while the Bruins have won eight of their last nine games. But both teams will have to shake off the rust of extended layoffs with more than a week between rounds. Both teams have to deal with that long break though, so neither should gain any edge there.
Advantage: Even
Overall
This should be a very even matchup, which likely means it won't be over quick. So both squads will probably be glad they got the extra rest they did after their sweeps in the last round. The loss of Bergeron for at least part of the series is a big hit for the Bruins, but they should have the depth to withstand his absence for the time being. That will definitely make it a tougher series though, so don't expect another sweep.
Prediction: Bruins in 7.
