Bruins brace for 'clash of the titans' against Lightning

BOSTON -- The gulf is almost unimaginably wide at this point in the season. Nineteen points separate the Tampa Bay Lightning (102 points) and the Boston Bruins (83), even though they are No. 1 and No. 3 in the NHL standings.

"Double digits ahead of everybody, that's impressive," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "So is it the rest of us that need to get our [butts] in gear or is it just that they're doing so well?"
And yet if you look at recent history, the Atlantic Division rivals are each playing at an equally torrid pace. The Lightning are on a 10-game winning streak and 12-0-2 in their past 14 games; the Bruins have won eight of their past nine and are 10-0-4 in their past 14.
That sets up a doozy of a matchup Thursday, when the Lightning and Bruins play at TD Garden (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN1, SNE, SNO, TVAS, NHL.TV) to see exactly where they each stand.
"It's two teams that are buzzing right now," Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk said. "It's going to be a tough task. It's the best team in the NHL, and anytime you play division teams it makes it a little more important. Obviously, they knocked us out last year, so there's that as well."

Which brings up the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Though there are six weeks to go in the regular season, there is a good chance the Lightning and Bruins could face each other in the postseason. If the playoffs started today, the Bruins would see the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference First Round with the Lightning playing the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold the second wild card. That could mean a rematch of the second-round series from last season, when Tampa Bay defeated Boston in five games.
Not that the Bruins or Lightning are looking that far ahead. But still, it's there.
"You've got to make the playoffs first, and then go from there," DeBrusk said. "But obviously we're going to have to go through them to win the Stanley Cup."
In a quirk of the schedule, the Lightning and Bruins have faced each other once this season, a 3-2 win for the Lightning at Amalie Arena on Dec. 6. Boston was missing center Patrice Bergeron and defenseman Zdeno Chara. The Bruins and Lightning play three more times this season, including the game on Thursday and the regular-season finale April 6. But it's been more than two months since they played each other.
"It feels like you're playing them for the first time," Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. "Looking forward to reigniting that flame."
Especially given the way Boston is playing right now -- and who is in the lineup.
Other than forward David Pastrnak, who is out after having left thumb surgery Feb. 11, the Bruins are healthy. That should give them a better sense of where they stand against the class of the NHL.
"You use it as a measuring stick," DeBrusk said. "It's one of those things where you circle it on the calendar. … Things are going well for us right now as a team, going up against a team that's hot as well, it's kind of clash of the titans."
The standings have the power to amaze the Bruins, seeing what they've done of late, how little headway they've made against the Lightning, even while jumping over other teams in the Atlantic Division. When the Bruins began their point streak on Jan. 28, they were in the first wild-card spot, behind the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens, as well as 17 points behind the Lightning.
They've lost two points to the Lightning since then, all while earning all but four possible points in their run.
"I was just looking at that," forward Brad Marchand said. "It's incredible, the season they're having. It speaks to their depth, how well they've played all year long, just the consistency in their group. If you want to compete with them, you have to bring your A-game every night."

Starting on Thursday.
"It's going to be a lot of fun," Krug said. "It's two teams that are feeling good about themselves, a team we probably have to go through to win the Stanley Cup. So, it's always great to get out there and see how you measure up to them. It's going to be a fun environment."
Cassidy cautioned against reading too much into one game, especially with the Lightning coming off three games in four nights and playing the second game of a back-to-back after a 4-3 overtime victory against the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
"But, saying that, I don't think it's just like a regular game," Cassidy said. "They're the cream of the crop in the NHL. So we'd like to see how we measure up against them, if that makes sense."
It does. This is the best team in the NHL, a team that Cassidy pointed out has few weaknesses, standing first in the NHL in power play percentage (29.7), just ahead of the Bruins (26.4) and first in penalty-killing (86.1).
"That's special," he said. "Usually you have a deficiency somewhere. But it doesn't look like they do. We're going to find out tomorrow."
So, yes, beating them would mean something, even if it doesn't equate to more than two points in the standings, even if it won't make a difference in any potential playoff matchup. It would still make a statement.
And the Bruins are ready.
"They're No. 1 for a reason," DeBrusk said. "We've got to play our best game of the year."