Bruins at Panthers
Coming off one of the most stunning comeback victories in recent memory, the Boston Bruins resume their chase of Atlantic Division leader Tampa Bay when they visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. It is the third stop on a four-game road trip for Boston, which trails the Lightning by four points with two games in hand.
The Bruins won for the seventh time in eight games by scoring five unanswered goals in a 6-4 win at Carolina on Tuesday, marking the first time since April 1995 they overcame a third-period deficit of three goals to win in regulation. "Everything clicked for us," said forward David Pastrnak, who ignited the comeback. "I guess we all wish we knew how to turn this click. But I think a big part of it is just that we have a good team with a lot of very good players.” The Panthers have been among the league's hottest teams but had their eight-game home winning streak snapped in Monday's 5-3 loss to Ottawa. It was the first regulation loss in 10 games (8-1-1) for Florida, which is in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and hasn't lost two in a row at home since the first week of December.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TVAS, NESN (Boston), FS Florida
ABOUT THE BRUINS (44-16-8): Pastrnak registered his first career hat trick in style, scoring all three goals in the final 10 minutes of the third period against Carolina to give him 13 points in seven games in March. The victory came at a cost, however, as defenseman Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug exited the game with injuries, as did forward Jake DeBrusk. “Hopefully everybody is all right. I don’t have any updates ... but we hope it’s nothing serious," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "But I guess we’ll see.”
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (34-26-7): Center Vincent Trocheck, who collected a pair of assists to run his point streak to four games, did not practice Wednesday but coach Bob Boughner expects him back in the lineup against Boston. The outlook is not as clear for defenseman Alexander Petrovic, who also did not practice Wednesday and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Boughner had Maxim Mamin on the fourth line in place of Micheal Haley at practice and said the Russian rookie is "more likely" to play Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Boston has won five straight overall against the Panthers and its last five visits to Florida.
2. Panthers F Jonathan Huberdeau has scored in three straight games and five of the last eight.
3. Bruins F Brad Marchand has six goals and eight assists during a six-game point streak.