Tampa Bay hasn’t played in a week
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Neither the Lightning nor the less-rested Bruins expect that to mean anything when their second-round playoff series begins Saturday.
A single point separated the Atlantic Division rivals in the standings after the race for the top seed in Eastern Conference came down to the final night of
the regular season, and there’s every reason to believe this best-of-seven
matchup will be just as tight.
”Obviously, these were the top two teams in the division, and it was a close call until the last game on who was going to finish first and second,” Lightning
defenseman Victor Hedman said.
”It’s going to be a tough matchup. They are great team, so are we,” the Norris Trophy finalist said. ”It’s going to come down to the small detail in the
game. We have the skill and depth up front to score goals, but we have to keep
the puck out of our net.”
Boston won three of four meetings between the teams the regular season.
The Bruins won their opening round playoff series against Toronto in seven games. Tampa Bay, led by Nikita Kucherov’s 10 points (five goals, five assists)
eliminated New Jersey in five games after going 0-3-1 against the Devils.
”I think you learn that the regular season means nothing,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. ”We know how they play. Very competitive group
Eddie Yarbrough Jersey , very well structured, especially that top line. … We’re expecting a very tight series against a very good hockey team.”
The Bruins are bracing for a tough test, too.
”It’s going to be a battle,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. ”They were a top team all year. They compete very hard, have a ton of skill, and they have a
lot of depth.”
THEY ALL COUNT
The Lightning earned home-ice advantage for the series by finishing one point ahead of Boston in the standings. In fact, it all came down to the final night
of the season, when the Bruins were playing Florida in a makeup game for a Jan.
4 game postponed by a snowstorm.
The Panthers won 4-2, leaving Boston with 112 points to 113 for Tampa Bay.
”We’re not going to allow one game to define us, yet we understand the meaning,” coach Bruce Cassidy said then. ”We let one get away, an opportunity
lost to have home-ice advantage
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NOT THE FIRST TIME
The Lightning and Bruins are facing each other in the postseason for only the second time. The other meeting was in the 2011 Eastern Conference Final, won by
Boston in seven games.
FALLING IN LINE
In the four playoff games the Bruins won against Toronto, the trio of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand had a combined 30 points. In the
three games they lost, they were held completely scoreless.
”They’re our most important line,” defenseman Torey Krug said after they tallied three goals with four assists in Game 7. ”They’re the best line in the
NHL, and when they’re going it’s hard to stop.”
TONGUE LASHING
Marchand will do whatever it takes to get under the skin of his opponents, and in the first round that meant skating up to Toronto forward Leo Komarov and
appearing to lick his face. (In November, he appeared to kiss Komarov on the
cheek.)
”I thought he wanted to cuddle. I just wanted to get close to him,” Marchand explained after the playoff game. ”He keeps trying to get close to me. I don’t
know if he’s got a thing for me or what. He’s cute.”
Several news organizations reported this week that the NHL sent a message to Marchand to knock it off, but he said he has received no such message. ”This is
false,” he tweeted in response to a Boston Globe story that picked up on the
original report
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I KINDA LIKE HIM
Lightning coach Jon Cooper was asked how he views Marchand.
”To be honest, what I have seen of him, what goes on out on the ice, he’s a competitive you know what and I love that. I think some of the greatest comments
you can give a player is I hate that kid but I do wish he was on my team,”
Cooper said.
”I was fortunate enough during the All-Star game to meet him … and off the ice to spend a little time. It actually was disappointing, I was hoping he was
going to be an idiot. I was hoping I wasn’t going to like him,” Cooper added.
”But he was unreal, and it’s amazing that a guy who is that kind and nice and
outgoing and friendly is the same guy who jumps on the ice. You have to respect
that about him. And when that kids jumps on the ice, he comes to play.”
—
AP Sports Writer Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this report.
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The Milwaukee Brewers sent struggling star outfielder Ryan Braun to Los Angeles on Wednesday for treatment on his achy right thumb.
Braun is expected to rejoin the first-place Brewers on Thursday when they begin a four-game series at Miller Park against St. Louis.
The Brewers planned to play without Braun on Wednesday. Turns out, they didn’t have to.
The finale of Milwaukee’s three-game series against Pittsburgh was postponed by heavy downpours at PNC Park that turned hallways leading from the dugouts to
the clubhouses into raging rivers.
A makeup date was not immediately announced.
Officials delayed the scheduled 7:05 p.m. start Wednesday as showers loomed. Groundskeepers took the tarp off around 8 p.m., but quickly put it back in place
after another rain band moved in. The game was called after a delay of 2 hours,
1 minute.
This is the second time this season the Pirates have been forced to postpone a home game due to inclement weather. It was the 39th postponement in the majors
this year
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The Brewers are scheduled to visit PNC Park twice more this season. The teams do have a common day off on Sept. 20 right before the Brewers begin a three-game
set in Pittsburgh.
Chad Kuhl, Pittsburgh’s scheduled starter on Wednesday, will instead get the nod when the Pirates begin a four-game series against Arizona on Thursday.
There was no immediate word on if the Brewers would alter their rotation against St. Louis. Brent Suter was scheduled to start Wednesday against the
Pirates, with Junior Guerra slated to take the hill on Thursday.
Brewers bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel did his best to have a little bit of fun in the monsoon. He did a series of belly flops on the tarp shortly after the
game was called.
By then, Braun was already on the West Coast to have cryotherapy on his right thumb.
”It’s something that he expects from time to time, and when it starts, we try to get in front of it and knock it out right away,” Brewers manager Craig
Counsell said.
Counsell said it’s the fifth time Braun has had the procedure done over the last few years. The six-time All-Star is hitting just .236 with eight home runs
and 31 RBIs this season and is mired in a 3-for-17 slump.
The Pirates announced Wednesday that third baseman Jung Ho Kang is dealing with discomfort in his left wrist while playing for Triple-A Indianapolis.
Kang, who is in the process of returning after missing the entire 2017 season following his arrest on DUI charges in South Korea, is considered ”day to
day.”
The team also placed outfielder Corey Dickerson on the Family Medical Emergency List and recalled utility player Adam Frazier from Triple-A
Indianapolis. The team offered no details on the reason for Dickerson’s
departure, but he will be away from the club for at least three days.
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