Panthers at Bruins
The Boston Bruins received the help they needed to capture their second Atlantic Division title in five seasons, which they can achieve with a victory over the visiting Florida Panthers on Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams. Boston trails Tampa Bay by one point for first place in both the division and the Eastern Conference thanks to its triumph over Ottawa on Saturday and Carolina's overtime victory over the Lightning, whose season is complete.
A win over the Panthers, in a game rescheduled from Jan. 4 due to a winter storm, will make the Bruins the No. 1 seed in the East and set them up for a first-round playoff series against New Jersey - the second wild card. Rookie Danton Heinen recorded a goal and an assist in the 5-2 win over Ottawa, which ended Boston's three-game slide. Florida is playing for nothing but pride as it was eliminated from postseason contention with Philadelphia's victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. Vincent Trocheck and Colton Sceviour each registered a goal and an assist as the Panthers edged Buffalo 4-3 for their fifth straight home triumph and franchise-record 27th of the season.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, FS Florida, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (43-30-8): Leading scorer Aleksander Barkov (career-high 78 points) sat out Saturday's win and also won't play against Boston after suffering an upper-body injury in Thursday's win over the Bruins. Radim Vrbata, who had been a healthy scratch for 15 consecutive contests, registered three shots and a minus-1 rating in just over 11 minutes of ice time of what was his final NHL game. The 36-year-old Czech right wing, who is retiring and will not play on Sunday, collected five goals and nine assists in 42 games this season to give him 284 tallies and 623 points in 1,057 career contests with seven different teams.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (50-19-12): Rick Nash could be in the lineup for the season finale as he participated in Saturday's pregame skate for the first time since suffering a concussion on March 17 against Tampa Bay. "We're going to see how I feel tonight, how I feel in the morning," Nash, who has missed 11 games, told the team's website afterward. "Hopeful for tomorrow. It would be nice to (play), but it's kind of a Catch-22. It would be nice to get those extra five days (before the playoff opener) and get my conditioning up and get my skill back a bit more. Gotta weigh the pros and cons." Riley Nash definitely will not be on the ice Sunday, keeping him one game shy of 400 for his career as he recovers from damage outside his ear that required over 40 stitches after taking a puck to the head on March 31 versus Florida.
OVERTIME
1. Panthers LW Jamie McGinn is one assist shy of 100 for his career while Aaron Ekblad needs a goal on Sunday to set a new franchise record for most by a defenseman in a season. Ekblad currently shares the mark of 16 with Jason Garrison (2011-12).
2. Boston C Tommy Wingels (hand) was back in the lineup Saturday after missing two games and ended his 15-game goal-scoring drought while RW David Pastrnak netted his 34th tally to match the career high he set last season and tie Brad Marchand for the team lead.
3. The Atlantic rivals are meeting for the third time in nine days, with each team posting a victory at home in the first two matchups.