This is an 8* "ART OF THE GAME" on the Boston Bruins.

If ever there was a situation where a contest could be considered "do-or-die" after only two games of the regular season, this is it. Boston hasn't started 0-3 in 16 years and suffice it to say, we expect this proud franchise to find a way to get the job done at the end of the night. Brad Marchand may be out for the home side, but the expected return of captain Zdeno Chara is a huge boost for the B's obviously: "For so long, defense has been our foundation, and we still look for that to be our foundation," Boston defenseman Torey Krug assessed yesterday. "So we've got to tighten up, for sure, whether it's turnovers, (or) we're not looking good on the backcheck, making sure we're looking over our shoulders and finding that extra guy. It's definitely not like us, but we're going to work through that." The Bruins have lost the last two games in this series, both in Tampa, but are 14-3-1 vs. the Bolts at home over the last couple of years. Also note that the Lightning are a poor 32-33 (-10.8 units) after a win by two goals or more, while Boston is 26-20 (+1.2 units) after consecutive losses. A great situation combined with a favorable line, all signs do indeed point to the BRUINS as the savvy move in this contest.

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