Panthers at Bruins
The Boston Bruins now own the inside track to win the Atlantic Division and the Florida Panthers will have a lot to say about whether they can accomplish that feat. The Bruins host the Panthers on Saturday afternoon in the first of three meetings between the two division foes in the last nine days of the regular season, with a lot on the line for both teams.
Boston, which is 4-0-3 in the last seven contests, sits one point behind Tampa Bay in the Atlantic with two games in hand after knocking off the Lightning 4-2 on Thursday as Patrice Bergeron recorded a goal and two assists. “Obviously we all know how big it was for the standings and what it meant for both teams,” Bruins left wing Brad Marchand, who sealed it with an empty-net goal, told reporters. “So it was great to see the guys react the way they did and have the game we did.” The Panthers missed a chance to gain ground in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with an overtime loss to Ottawa on Thursday and trail New Jersey by three points with one game in hand. “The positives are we got a point,” Florida goalie James Reimer told reporters Thursday. “We’re going to keep rolling and keep winning games and see where it stands at the end of the year. We’ve got to make these next couple games count. We know what’s on the line and we understand what we have to do and we’ll do what it takes.”
TV: 1 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, FS Florida, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (39-29-8): Aaron Ekblad scored his 16th goal Thursday to tie Jason Garrison (2011-12) for the franchise record among defensemen and owns three points in his last three games. Leading scorer Aleksander Barkov (75 points) has been stuck on 99 career goals for six games and was kept off the scoresheet in the past two outings while fellow center Vincent Trocheck has four of his 70 points in the last four contests. Defenseman Keith Yandle boasts one goal and four assists in the past four games and is five shy of his career high of 59 points in 2010-11 with Phoenix.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (48-17-11): Marchand has posted three goals and six assists in the last four games to push his team-leading total to 84 points - one short of his career best last season. Marchand’s linemate David Pastrnak scored for the fourth consecutive game Thursday and is two away from matching his career high of 34 goals in 2016-17 while owning a career-best 76 points. Defensemen Zdeno Chara (upper-body) and Charlie McAvoy (knee) are both skating and could return to the lineup soon while forward David Backes (laceration) was back Thursday after missing five games.
OVERTIME
1. Florida F Henrik Borgstrom, the 23rd overall pick in the 2016 draft, had two shots in 12:41 of ice time in his NHL debut Thursday.
2. Bergeron needs two goals to reach 30 for the fourth time in his career despite missing 18 games because of injury.
3. The Panthers handed Boston its last regulation loss 3-0 on March 15 in the only previous meeting this season.