TAMPA
Josh Allen Youth Jersey , Fla. — There’s a recent familiarity between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins, who meet in the second round of the Stanley Cup
playoffs after playing each other twice in the final 12 games of the regular
season.
“It’s like starting over again,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of the series that begins Saturday at Amalie Arena. “There’s a little bit of the
unknown. You have to develop a little of that hatred, or passion, whatever the
word is against a similar opponent every night. I assume that will happen
fast.”
The Lightning won the division title and have the top seed in the Eastern Conference after edging the Bruins by a point in the standings. The pivotal game
was the fourth and final meeting, when the Lightning posted a key 4-0 victory in
Tampa.
The matchup initially is about rust vs. rest — the Lightning got a full week off after eliminating the New Jersey Devils in five games, allowing them time
off while the Bruins needed a full seven games to advance past the Toronto Maple
Leafs.
“I think the guys are excited,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “You always say you want time off, and we’ve had six days. The guys want to get back into
it. There’s a lot of ‘Let’s get this going.'”
Boston won the first three meetings in the regular season by a combined score of 10-4, so the Bruins can have confidence going into the matchup
Youth Ryan Jensen Jersey , regardless of seeding and home-ice advantage.
The Bruins are a well-rounded playoff team, ranking in the NHL’s top six in scoring, goals allowed, power play and penalty kill.
The Lightning are a tiny bit better in scoring, leading the league with 3.5 goals per game, and barely better on the power play, converting 23.9 percent of
their opportunities.
Tampa Bay’s special teams were a strength in the series against New Jersey — their penalty kill, once a liability, killed off 16 of 19 Devils power plays,
and the Lightning went 5 of 9 on power plays in the first three games before an
0-of-10 drought in the final two
Hayden Hurst Jersey , both Tampa Bay wins.
Nikita Kucherov set a Lightning record for points in a playoff series with five goals and five assists, but Boston’s David Pastrnak can trump that, getting
five goals and eight assists in his series against Toronto. Steven Stamkos,
quiet overall in scoring in the last series, was a team-best plus-4 when on the
ice just the same.
Tampa Bay finished the regular season with momentum coming off the 4-0 win over Boston, which carried into the New Jersey series.
“In the end, our team had to pick up our play,” Cooper said. “I don’t know that we were at the same intensity level.”
Game 1 and 2 are Saturday and Monday in Tampa, with the next two games in Boston, before alternating the final three games if necessary.
Saquon Barkley got an incredulous look on his face when asked if he was hoping to play in the
New York Giants' preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday.
Hoping was not an option as far as the second overall pick in the NFL draft was concerned. The halfback from Penn State wants to play
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camp.
Coach Pat Shurmur put the injury speculation to rest when talking to the media on Monday. He said Barkley is physically fine and the team is just
managing his workload.
It seemed odd, though, on Saturday when the Giants didn't give Barkley a snap after limiting his carries a day earlier.
Shurmur downplayed it, saying the rookie has been getting plenty of work in drills not open to the media.
Barkley believes he is ready. He has worked hard, picked the brains of quarterback Eli Manning and veteran running back Jonathan Stewart, gotten to
know his linemen and seems to have grasped the offense as well as can be
expected for a newcomer.
Shurmur said the 21-year-old is making mistakes but learning from every one.
"Hoping? I plan to play," Barkley said Monday. "That's like I don't know; I haven't experienced an NFL preseason game yet, but I think that hoping would be
like, I am hoping I am good to go for that game. I am more than capable to
playing now. I am just happy inside to play in my first NFL game. Hopefully I
can maximize every rep."
Barkley said he never had this much time to take care of his body in college. He noted that in his final season at Penn State he had to juggle training camp
with taking finals from summer school classes.
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