Bruins at Panthers
The last-place Florida Panthers look to wash away the stain of coughing up a three-goal lead in a loss over the weekend when they host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night in an Atlantic Division matchup. The Panthers led first-place Tampa Bay 4-1 before giving up the final four goals in an overtime setback Saturday and have not won two straight contests since a five-game winning streak Nov. 2-13.
“We started the week with a back-to-back, and we ended the week with a back-to-back,” Florida coach Bob Boughner told reporters. “You could tell that the tank was a little bit empty toward the end. But I liked the way we managed the game with 8-9 minutes to go. … We just couldn’t finish it off against a good hockey team.” The Panthers, who recorded a power-play goal in 15 of their last 16 contests, are 2-1-2 in the past five games overall and beat Boston twice in the last four days of the regular season in 2017-18 to keep the Bruins from winning the Atlantic Division. Injury-plagued Boston, which is missing All-Star center Patrice Bergeron along with three top-six defensemen - including Zdeno Chara - has hung in there at 4-2-2 the last eight games, but dropped a 4-2 decision at home to Detroit on Saturday. “Tonight, I think it’s a bad road to go down with the what ifs and the woe is me,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters after Saturday’s loss. “We’re winning games with this lineup. Tonight we didn’t, but we’ll bounce back.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet Pacific; NESN (Boston), FS Florida
ABOUT THE BRUINS (14-8-4): Forward Ryan Donato had the shootout winner Thursday against the New York Islanders and scored in Saturday’s loss after returning from nearly a month in the American Hockey League. “I’ve always kept that intensity level and effort level,” Donato told reporters. “There are just some of the details that maybe I learned in the AHL that maybe make me look or appear more confident, but I’ve always had confidence in my offensive abilities.” Left wing David Pastrnak leads the team with 19 goals and 30 points after scoring twice and setting up two others in the last three contests.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (10-10-5): Left wing Jonathan Huberdeau has strung together five straight multi-point games while accumulating two goals and 11 assists over the past seven contests to take over the team lead with 28 points. Right wing Evgenii Dadonov boasts goals in three straight games and owns seven of his 26 points in the last five contests to sit second on the team - two ahead of left wing Mike Hoffman (12 goals). Captain Aleksander Barkov has recorded three goals and two assists during a four-game point streak and defenseman Keith Yandle boasts seven assists in his past eight contests.
OVERTIME
1. Boston G Tuukka Rask owns a .934 save percentage in his last five games overall and a 21-5-1 mark with a .946 SP all time versus the Panthers.
2. Florida G Roberto Luongo (lower body) reportedly went through a full practice Monday and could return to the lineup as early as Tuesday.
3. Bruins D Torey Krug, who skipped practice with an undisclosed injury Monday, is riding a five-game assist streak and has 12 in 15 contests this season.