The Tampa Bay Lightning have had leads in their Eastern Conference Final series with the Boston Bruins in every game but one, Game 4, when they trailed almost from the start. However, they find themselves facing elimination in the series, down three games to two. The Lightning look to force a Game 7, while the Bruins will try to book their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 1990 in tonight's Game 6 at TD Garden.
For head coach Guy Boucher, the choice is Dwayne Roloson in net after Mike Smith got the go in Game 5. He says the process of telling Roloson he'd be starting came right after Game 5, saying "his reaction was the same reaction as when I had my talk with him before the game on my decision to go with the other goaltender and give him some rest. And he's got a big smile because he's rested."
While Roloson is back in, sparkplug Sean Bergenheim may not be able to go in tonight's game. Boucher called him a "game-time decision," adding that his back-up plan was "we'll go with the chemistry that we planned on, and we've got the choice between putting Tyrell in the lineup and to fill the forward spot or we put in a seventh defenseman with Randy Jones. So that's still something that we're oscillating between, yeah."
For Bruins head coach Claude Julien, tonight is all about seizing the moment, saying "I think to me, any day you come to the rink and you've got a game, especially this time of year, you've got to be excited. I'm certain there's a lot of people, a lot of players, a lot of coaches that would like to be in that position. So we take it for what it's worth.
It's a great day and an even better day with the opportunity that is in front of us."
Julien also thinks his team will have to play their best game of the series. "I'm one of those guys that believes that the best game of the series has to be the one that gives you the opportunity to clinch," he said, "and that's what we're going to need tonight. They're a good team to start with, and there's no denying that. And there's some desperation in their game as well. So two reasons to want to play your best tonight."
We'll be around all evening with updates, and you can check out Raw Charge and Stanley Cup of Chowder for more local coverage. Enjoy the game.