Well rested and back from the All-Star break, the Bruins return to action with more must win games on the horizon. Tonight, they begin another back-to-back set in Tampa against the Steven Stamkos-less Lightning.

Coming in winners of two straight before the break, including an emotional 4-3 win over the Penguins, the Bruins hope to get another spirited effort against a Bolts squad that has been hard by injuries and inconsistencies all year long.

Sustaining emotion may be hard to come by on some nights, but the Black and Gold know that last Thursday’s win over Pittsburgh – and their come-from-behind win over the Red Wings two nights prior – is a good blueprint going forward.

“It’s a necessity now. You’re fighting for you [playoff] life and you need to gather some points, and now is the time to do it,” David Backes said about the need to come out with intensity following Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “Otherwise you’re looking back.”

Thirty more games to go for the Black and Gold in the regular season 2016-17. A good starting point if they want to play in mid-April is tonight – against a Bolts team that they’ve already beaten twice – as they look for their third straight win, which would match their longest streak of the season.

Gametime: 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: NESN/98.5 The Sports Hub (also to be live streamed on Twitter)
Records: Bruins 25-21-6 (56 points), Lightning 22-22-6 (50 points)
Location: Amalie Arena

Bruins projected lines

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano-David Krejci-David Backes
Matt Beleskey-Ryan Spooner-Riley Nash
Tim Schaller-Dominic Moore-Jimmy Hayes

Zdeno Chara-Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
Colin Miller-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin

Lightning projected lines

Ondrej Palat-Vladislav Namenstikov-Nikita Kucherov
Brian Boyle-Valtteri Filppula-Jonathan Drouin
Alex Killorn-Tyler Johnson-Brayden Point
Gabriel Dumont-Cedric Paquette-J.T. Brown

Victor Hedman-Jake Dotchin
Braydon Coburn-Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison-Andrej Sustr

Ben Bishop
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Tonight’s storylines

– With the first of their back to back on the road, Tuukka Rask was the first goalie off at the morning skate indicating he’ll likely get the start. This may come as a bit of a surprise given that the Bruins’ netminder along with fellow first-time All-Star Brad Marchand are fresh off of a cross-country trip from Los Angeles to Tampa, but with a much more difficult opponent tomorrow in Washington, the Bruins’ best chance at victory is tonight against the Bolts. Anton Khudobin, who was recalled from Providence this past weekend as Zane McIntyre fulfilled his AHL All-Star game duties, will likely get the nod tomorrow against the red-hot Capitals.

– As the growing pains continue on the blue-line, the Bruins defense is undergoing a cold spell having allowed three or more goals in six of their last seven contests. Though they’ve only allowed an average of 26.8 shots on goal per game – good for second fewest in the league – and are still having pretty good success on the penalty kill, opposing offenses have been able to score quickly on the B’s as of late. With their offense scoring four goals in each of their last two games, a well-rested Zdeno Chara, Brandon Carlo and the rest of the blue-line will look to minimize breakdowns and transition the puck up ice quickly against a Lightning team that finds themselves in the bottom half of the league offensively without Stamkos.