Top scorers Kucherov and Marchand meet in Tampa Bay-Boston matchup
Boston Bruins (46-20-9, second in the Atlantic Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (58-14-4, first in the Atlantic Division)
Tampa, Florida; Monday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: A pair of the NHL’s top scorers, Nikita Kucherov and Brad Marchand, meet when Tampa Bay and Boston take the ice at Amalie Arena. Kucherov is first in the NHL with 120 points and Marchand currently ranks eighth in the league with 92 points.
The Lightning are 40-6-0 against Eastern Conference opponents. Tampa Bay leads the NHL shooting 12.0 percent and averaging 3.9 goals on 32.4 shots per game.
The Bruins are 16-6-2 against the rest of their division. Boston averages 9.6 penalty minutes per game, the third-most in the NHL. Marchand leads the team serving 92 total minutes. In their last meeting on Feb. 28, Boston won 4-1. Torey Krug recorded a team-high two assists for the Bruins in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kucherov has recorded 120 total points while scoring 37 goals and adding 83 assists for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos has recorded 12 points over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 7-3-0, averaging 3.9 goals, 5.8 assists, 3.5 penalties and 8.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game with a .903 save percentage.
Lightning: 8-2-0, averaging 4.3 goals, 7.1 assists, 4.3 penalties and 10.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .914 save percentage.
Lightning Injuries: Anton Stralman: day to day (lower body), Dan Girardi: out (lower body).
Bruins Injuries: Marcus Johansson: out (upper body), Kevan Miller: out (upper body), Torey Krug: day to day (upper body), Sean Kuraly: out (upper body), Matt Grzelcyk: day to day (arm).