Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy held Zoom sessions ahead of Game 3 on Wednesday night.
Jaroslav Halak is set to start on consecutive days for the first time since Nov. 10-11, 2018.
"He's recovered well, so that's the plan," confirmed Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy.
"I feel fine," Halak said after allowing four goals on 40 shots in an overtime loss Tuesday night. "Obviously, we just need to get a good night's sleep and see how it's going to go. But, you know, no one said it would be an easy series ... I just got to be better and that's the bottom line."
In the wake of the Game 2 defeat, Cassidy said he was undecided on his goalie situation. The other option is 23-year-old Dan Vladar, who posted a .936 save percentage in 25 American Hockey League games this season, but hasn't played in the National Hockey League.
"We're not nervous putting him in there," Cassidy insisted Wednesday. "We're not afraid of putting him in there ... if we have to we will, and we'll play well in front of him and hopefully he'll be up to the task."
But for now Boston's net, as it has been since the departure of Tuukka Rask for family reasons in the first round, belongs to the 35-year-old Halak. He has posted a .916 save percentage in six bubble games.
The Lightning situation, meanwhile, seems to be more straightforward with Vezina Trophy nominee Andrei Vasilevskiy, 26, almost a decade younger than Halak. And yet Tampa head coach Jon Cooper played coy this morning.
"We have two goalies," he said. "One of them is going to play today."
Tampa's back-up is 37-year-old Curtis McElhinney, who has yet to see action since the season resumed.
Despite all the attention on the goaltending situation, Cassidy seemed far more concerned with some of his skaters.
"What we do need is better from the middle of our group, that second layer of guys who have been in the league and could be the future of the Boston Bruins," the coach said. "These are guys that can really make a name for themselves in this playoffs. We've had a decade-long production from our top end and our core, and they show up to play every night ... It's become a bit of a young-legs playoffs if you look around, and so we need some of that tonight and that was a bit of the message today. It's time for those guys to step up and pull the veteran core along, and what I mean by that is energy-wise."
The top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak is delivering as advertised, but the back-up hasn’t been there consistently. Deadline addition Ondrej Kase, for example, has four assists in eight games since the season resumed.
"Brad Marchand, to me, was the best player on the ice last night, so he doesn't need any help," said Cassidy. "He's fine. He's going to show up and play, but some of the other guys that we rely on or brought in, it's time for them to pull a little harder on the rope in a game like today. We'll see if that materializes."
The Lightning went with seven defencemen and 11 forwards Tuesday night and Cassidy is considering going that route for Game 3 in order to spread the minutes around on the back end. Torey Krug played more than 25 minutes last night, Brandon Carlo was just under 25 while Charlie McAvoy was just under 24.
"We have a few smaller guys [and] it's been a physical series for them so save a little wear and tear and put some fresh legs in there," Cassidy said of his thought process. "The disadvantage of seven D is finding your rhythm as a defenceman and then the second part is up front. What if we get an injury to a forward? Now you're down to 10, so there can be risk involved in the playoffs – especially considering the tight games we've been in with the overtimes."
The coach pointed out that defenceman Connor Clifton did play forward a bit with Providence in the AHL and could be called upon to "pinch hit" up front in an emergency situation.
Cassidy also revealed that one of Boston’s regular forwards will be a game-time decision due to an injury issue.
Going with seven defencemen can put a strain on the bench during intense games, but Cooper says it's actually a simpler proposition these days.
"Without having fans it's easier for us because in a raucous building it's hard to hear," Cooper said. "You got to really have a feel for your guys on the bench and you got to talk to them a lot, too. I don't want players to tell me they're ready to go when they're not just because they want another shift. We have to have transparency and honesty in these situations and guys are really good about it."
Cooper went with seven defencemen in Game 2 after Ryan McDonagh was ruled out with an injury. That opened the door for veterans Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn to get in for the first time during the playoffs.
"You just have to bide your time not knowing it's going to be a month in the bubble before you get to play," Cooper said when asked about Schenn. "And then to still come in and perform the way he did, it was uplifting for everybody. You could hear the guys on the bench, like, guys are all pulling for him and it's awesome to see."
McDonagh will also miss Game 3 tonight.
Cooper was asked about his team's power play, which went 0-for-2 on Tuesday and is now 0-for-15 in seven playoff games.
"Thanks for throwing the stat out there," the coach said with a grin. "For me, power plays are all about momentum. They are momentum shifters, and, for whatever reason, we don't get very many chances on the power play. I'm not sure why."
So, it’s hard to get in a rhythm, but despite that the Lightning had some good looks last night.
"When our last power play went out and they were in the zone the whole time and they were just firing pucks at Halak and he was kicking them out, our bench rose a little bit and I'm sure their bench tightened up thinking, 'Holy cow, they're buzzing now.' I thought our team picked up a lot of momentum after that last power play ... Eventually, we have some pretty good players on the ice, pucks are going to go in."
Some of the late-season additions made by Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois paid big dividends in Game 2. Tampa’s first goal of the game featured three newcomers with Barclay Goodrow and Zach Bogosian picking up assists on a Blake Coleman goal. Coleman added another goal in the third period.
Cooper was asked how the team's fresh faces have performed relative to what the team hoped for.
"Hope is not strategy," he said before breaking into a smile, "but we were hoping they would turn out just the way they did ... We needed this. We needed some guys who play with some jam and dirt under their nails and can give your team a lift [and also] some goals like Blake gave us last night, or the play Zach made or Goody's goals he's scored and so forth."