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Saturday, 14 May 2011 12:01

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

(3) Bruins vs. (5) Lightning

Bruins Leading Postseason Scorer: Patrice Bergeron (11 points (2 goals, 9 assists).

Lightning Leading Postseason Scorer: Martin St. Louis, 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists).

Bruins Postseason Statistics

Lightning Postseason Statistics

Bruins with Stanley Cup bling: Mark Recchi, Shawn Thornton.

Lightning with Stanley Cup bling: Vincent Lecavalier, Pavel Kubina, Martin St. Louis.

Something worthwhile about the Lightning: The Lightning has the best goals for per game average in the postseason with 3.46.

Something useless about the Bruins that is vaguely connected to the Penguins: The only Bruins forward to win an all-star game MVP is former Penguin Bill Guerin (2001).

Something useless about the Lightning that is vaguely connected to the Penguins: The only Lightning player to ever win the Masterton Trophy is former Penguins forward John Cullen (1999).

Former Penguins on the Bruins: Andrew Ference, D; Mark Recchi, RW.

Former Penguins on the Lightning: Adam Hall, RW; Greg Malone, head professional scout; Ryan Malone, LW; Dominic Moore (right), C.

Who needs to be the difference for the Bruins: Zdeno Chara (above), Dennis Seidenberg, etc. The Bruins are going to see a lot of the Lightning's star forward such as St. Louis, Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier, coupled with the surprising offensive surge of third liners like Sean Bergenheim and Steve Downie, the Lightning have a pretty healthy offense. Chara and Seidenberg have functioned as a shut-down pairing as of late for Boston. They'll have their hands full this round, especially with defensive forward Patrice Bergeron possibly sidelined.

Who needs to be the difference for the Lightning: Downie, Bergenheim and Moore. In addition to bringing a surprising offensive element, this line has caused havoc for opposing top-six forwards defensively. They'll need to find a way to put clamp down on Boston's already limited offense.

Best Bruins YouTube Video We Could Find: Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas robbing Lightning forward Martin St. Louis early in the 2006-07 season:

Best Lightning YouTube Video We Could Find: Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier scoring a snazzy wraparoud goal against Thomas earlier this season:

EN Prediction: The Bruins simply don't have the offensive weapons to keep up with the Lightning. Tampa Bay is getting contributions from it's usual souces among the top six forward and their third line of Bergenheim, Moore and Downie might be the best line in hockey right now. The Lightning make a return to the Stanley Cup final. Lightning 4-1.

(Photos: Chara-Elsa/Getty Images; Moore-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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