(My Sportsbook) - Two teams on the opposite ends of the Eastern Conference standing will meet tonight in Boston as the powerful Bruins welcome the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning to TD Banknorth Garden.

The Northeast Division-leading Bruins have 40 points and are also atop the East standings. On the other hand, the Lightning are last in the Southeast Division as well as the conference with just 20 points.

These teams played last Thursday in Tampa and the Bruins notched a 3-1 victory. Boston has won two of three and seven of the last nine meetings between the clubs and the Lightning have dropped three of four as the road team in the series.

Boston has been practically unbeatable since the end of October, going 16-2-1 in their last 19 contests. The Bruins are currently on a four-game winning streak and have outscored their opponents by an amazing 18-4 margin during that stretch.

Claude Julien's club picked up its most recent victory Saturday at Florida, as the Bruins breezed past the Panthers, 4-0, at Bank Atlantic Center.

Manny Fernandez, who improved to 8-1-1 on the season, logged his first shutout of the year and 15th of his career in stopping 27 shots for the Bruins. Tim Thomas, Boston's No. 1 goaltender, is expected to be back between the pipes tonight.

Phil Kessel, Michael Ryder, Shane Hnidy and Blake Wheeler each found the back of the net for Boston, which notched its eighth win in its last nine games. David Krejci registered three assists.

Kessel owns the NHL's longest active point streak at 11 games, posting nine goals and five assists over that run. He has also scored a goal in five straight tests and has amassed six goals during that streak. Krejci, meanwhile, has five goals and nine helpers over an eight-game point streak of his own.

The Bruins are 9-1-1 as the host this year and have won nine straight in Beantown. Boston was last defeated at the Garden on October 23 by Toronto.

The Lightning have lost seven straight games and have just one win (1-5-4) in 10 tilts since Rick Tocchet took over as interim head coach for the fired Barry Melrose.

Following last week's setback to the Bruins, Tampa Bay was handed a 4-3 defeat by visiting Buffalo on Saturday. Derek Roy scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and had an assist, as the Sabres edged the Bolts at St. Pete Times Forum.

Martin St. Louis and Vaclav Prospal each had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay. Vincent Lecavalier had two helpers and Paul Ranger scored once for the Lightning.

Mike Smith allowed four goals on 27 shots faced in the loss.

Tampa Bay is just 3-6-3 as the visiting club this year and is beginning a four-game road trip tonight. The Lightning have lost six straight and eight of their last nine away from Tampa.