The Panthers will face the Bruins on Thursday in a big divisional matchup as the two teams are separated by just 3 points inside the top 3 spots. Florida lost on Monday to the Rangers as a result of an incomplete effort, although they did get two late goals to from Vincent Trocheck and Jiri Hudler, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome New York’s 4 goals. Al Montoya started in net on Monday, but Roberto Luongo is expected to start on Thursday.
The Panthers will still be without the services of Erik Gudbranson, Derek MacKenzie, and Willie Mitchell. Gudbranson isn’t expected to be back until around the final game or two of the season while MacKenzie could be in a similar boat as they’re both nursing nearly identical foot injuries. Willie Mitchell could be back as soon as Saturday’s game against the Lightning, but the upcoming home stand starting next Tuesday seems more likely.
Boston is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday night and will face the Panthers in the 2nd game of a back-to-back as well as a short trip from New York to Massachusetts. Tuukka Rask was pulled after the 1st period and was replaced by Jonas Gustavsson, so Rask is likely to start against the Panthers on Thursday. Lee Stempniak and Frank Vatrano each scored a goal in the 2nd and 3rd period respectively despite a total of 38 shots on goal
The Panthers and Bruins last met on March 7th in Florida when Boston won 5-4 in overtime. The Panthers got a goal each from Alesksander Barkov and Jussi Jokinen and 2 goals from Jiri Hudler.
