Need to Know: Bruins at Lightning

TAMPA – The Bruins brought some precious cargo with them to the Sunshine State.

With their fathers in tow for the club’s Dads Trip, the Black & Gold are looking to put forth a strong showing when they kick off a two-game road swing against the Lightning on Monday night at Amalie Arena.

“It’s more of a celebration of the dads’ work helping their sons get here,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “I know the sons want to reward them, but they reward them by playing the right way and I think our leaders lead that way when it gets closer to gamete.”

Boston captain Brad Marchand, who has his father Kevin along for the trip, said his family is beginning to see more and more of their similarities as he gets older.

“Your dad is always someone you look up to. It was that way for me,” said Marchand. “I always looked up to his work ethic and just who he was. I always tried to emulate him. I think I realize [the similarities] more when my wife started getting mad at me for doing the same thing that my dad would do.

“He’s around the all the time and he does things and then he leaves and my wife is like, ‘Oh my god, stop doing that, your dad does that.’ I hear it more from him every single day. And my brother’s wife says the same thing. The older we get the more we become like him.”

Here’s everything else you need to know for the 7 p.m. ET puck drop on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub:

Carlo A Force

Brandon Carlo may just be playing the best hockey of his eight-year career. While he is often overshadowed by the likes of Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm due to his modest offensive numbers, the 26-year-old has been a force on Boston’s back end.

“He’s been excellent,” said Montgomery. “He’s a steady rock back there. His offensive confidence, you can tell how involved he is…he does a lot of things defensively, he puts out a lot of fires, a lot of mistakes that other teammates are making. It’s why he’s so valuable to us and inside our locker room and his teammates love him.”

Carlo said that his confidence has continued to build after a strong performance last season.

“I would say just mentally, coming into this year after a strong playoffs last year, strong year last year, just coming in and trying to carry the same mindset,” said Carlo. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself and the way that I function within my own mind within the past seven years. I think that’s just coming together a little bit more.

“I’m not getting too stressed out about too much, just enjoying the game and being as present as possible out there. It’s been going well so far and I hope I continue to play the way that I have.”

The blue liner has also begun to elevate his offensive game with points in back-to-back contests – a goal in Boston’s win over Buffalo last week and a primary assist on Trent Frederic’s tip-in goal against Montreal on Saturday night.

“Just a little bit of confidence helps with that,” said Carlo, who has a goal and four assists in 16 games. “For me, when I was younger I did make some plays and obviously you get a little more offense and play a more all-around game at that time. But when I got to the NHL I took a lot of pride in the defensive aspect. I knew that was mores my role.

“From here on out, I’m just trying to have a little more poise with pucks...little moments like those where I’m not trying to get the puck off my stick as fast and hold on to it a little more. Monty’s been great for that because he encourages that. That’s been a huge help.”

Opposing View

The Lightning have won two in a row after a three-game losing streak and sit at 8-6-4 with 20 points, which ties them with Carolina for the two wild card spots in the East. Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 27 points and 13 goals through 17 games, while fellow stalwarts Brayden Point (7-16—23), Victor Hedman (4-15—19), and Steven Stamkos (6-12—18) round out the team’s top five scorers.

With goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy having been sidelined by injury so far this season, Jonas Johansson has seen most of the action between the pipes for Tampa, posting a 7-4-0 record with a 3.40 goals against average and .896 save percentage.

The Lightning power play ranks fourth in the league with a 31.7% success rate.

“You know how dangerous they are,” said Montgomery. “I mean, that power play – and Kucherov has 14 goals or something like that already. Point, [Mikhail Sergachev] and Hedman. And they're extremely well coached [by Jon Cooper]. They're going to be a battle.”

Wait, There’s More

• Both Morgan Geekie (upper-body) and Matt Grzelcyk (upper-body) are on the trip, but will not play. “Everyone’s on the trip because their dads are [here],” said Montgomery, who added that Geekie is “just starting his process.” Grzelcyk is eligible to come off of LTIR on Saturday against the Rangers.
• During Sunday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, Montgomery – a Maine alum – wore a Boston University hat and sweater as the loser of a bet with the B’s Terrier contingent. BU swept Maine last weekend with 3-2 and 5-4 victories at Agganis Arena. “It was me and [Jeremy Swayman] with Grizzy, Charlie McAvoy, and Kevin Shattenkirk,” said Montgomery. “[Charlie Coyle] doesn’t get involved because he’s only halfway committed to being a college player…fast pay makes fast friends. It’s why it's fun to be in this locker room, we have we have a good time with each other.”

Monday’s Projected Lineup

FORWARDS

Brad Marchand – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak

James van Riemsdyk – Charlie Coyle – Trent Frederic

Jake DeBrusk – Matt Poitras – Danton Heinen

Jakub Lauko – Johnny Beecher – Oskar Steen**

DEFENSEMEN**

Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort – Kevin Shattenkirk/Ian Mitchell**

GOALIES**

Jeremy Swayman/Linus Ullmark