The Bruins had their game-day skate and are set to face the Lightning at the Garden. Boston is shooting to overtake the Flyers for seventh place in the Eastern Conference and possibly tie the Canadiens for sixth.
In other action Thursday, the Flyers host the Wild, and the Canadiens host the Panthers. If the Bruins (78 points) win, and both the Flyers (79 points) and Habs (80 points) lose, the B's would catch Montreal for sixth. Despite the fact that the Lightning are eight points back, the Bruins are treating this as another playoff game and a great chance to move up the standings.
"We can't worry about who we're playing because right now every game is crucial and like a playoff game," Patrice Bergeron said. "It doesn't matter that this team may not be battling for the playoff spots. We are, so we need to play that way."
Trent Whitfield was recalled from Providence on Thursday morning and skated on the third line with Milan Lucic and Miroslav Satan. He will play in that spot against Tampa Bay as Vladimir Sobotka sits out with a neck injury. Brad Marchand and Matt Hunwick are the healthy scratches again.
Tuukka Rask (18-10-4, 2.02 goals against average, .930 save percentage and four shutouts) will start in net.
Here's the expected lineup:
Forwards
Marco Sturm–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Michael Ryder
Milan Lucic–Trent Whitfield-Miroslav Satan
Daniel Paille–Steve Begin–Shawn Thornton
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Dennis Seidenberg
Mark Stuart–Dennis Wideman
Andrew Ference–Johnny Boychuk
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
