The Bruins will look to break out of their recent funk when they take on the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. Follow along for updates from Saturday’s game.
WHO: Bruins (20-7-6) at Florida Panthers (15-11-5)
WHEN: 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: BB&T Center
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE: NHL.com
TICKETS: BSJ ticket partner SeatsForEveryone.com
LIVE COVERAGE:
9:45: Final: Bruins beat the Panthers, 4-2. Boston snaps its 5-game losing streak.
9:40: McAvoy off for interference. Florida is going to get a 6v4 look now.
9:39: Pastrnak with the empty netter. 4-2 game.
9:29: Panthers continuing to tilt the ice in their favor this period.
9:20:
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1206036308545691649
9:16: No dice for Pastrnak. Still a 3-1 game.
9:15: Penalty shot for Pastrnak.
9:08: Mark Pysyk opens the scoring for Florida. 3-1 game with a little over 17 minutes left in regulation.
9:04: Third period underway.
8:46: End Second: Bruins with a 3-0 lead over Florida.
8:43: Just about every line has impressed so far tonight. Even Bjork + Kuraly are much more active, especially in the D-zone. Plenty of layers of attack. Just an all-around strong showing from Boston so far tonight.
8:22: The power-play drought is over. 3-0 Bruins off Pastrnak's 27th goal.
8:20: Delay of game for Florida. Bruins back on the power play.
8:14: David Krejci buries one from the high slot. 2-0 Boston.
8:06: Second period underway.
7:51:
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1206013834038784000
7:49: End First: Bruins have a 1-0 lead over Florida. Boston with 22-11 edge in shots on goal.
7:45: Now the Bruins go back on the power play.
7:45: B's kill another power play. Florida entered the game with the 7th ranked man advantage.
7:39: Bruins break through with a goal from DeBrusk. 1-0. Very well could be more, based on Boston's play so far.
7:35: Some real good looks from the second power-play unit. McAvoy has been very active in the O-zone over the last couple of games, especially.
7:32: Marchand is tripped and Boston heads to the power play.
7:22: Bruins already with 10 shots on goal with 13:54 left in the first.They had four total SOG in the entire first period on Thursday against Tampa Bay.
7:16: B's kill it off.
7:12: Bjork is whistled for a high stick. Bruins to the PK.
7:12: Bruins with 4 shots on goal in the first 1:30 of play.
7:10: Puck is dropped and we're underway.
7:04: Starters:
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1206000643791564801
LINEUPS
BOSTON
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Charlie Coyle
Anders Bjork — Sean Kuraly — Danton Heinen
Joakim Nordstrom — Chris Wagner — David Backes
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo
John Moore — Matt Grzelcyk
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched: Connor Clifton, Par Lindholm, Brett Ritchie
Injured: Kevan Miller (knee), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia)
FLORIDA
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mike Hoffman -- Vincent Trocheck -- Brett Connolly
Frank Vatrano -- Noel Acciari -- Denis Malgin
Dominic Toninato -- Brian Boyle -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
MacKenzie Weegar -- Anton Stralman
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
PREGAME NOTES:
- The Bruins, who are looking to snap their longest losing streak since March 2016, did not hold a morning skate on Saturday. Charlie Coyle will slot up to David Krejci's right and skate on the wing, while Sean Kuraly will take Coyle's spot as third-line center. Chris Wagner will shift over to center on the fourth line, while David Backes will replace Brett Ritchie in the lineup and skate with Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom.
- While Sergei Bobrovsky has largely struggled in net this season (.899 save percentage), the Panthers are still hovering around the playoff picture thanks to a 15-11-5 record — a testament to some of the talent that Florida regularly rolls out up front and on the blue line. Still, the Panthers have fallen into a bit of a rut, going 3-6-0 in their last nine games.
- Florida is near the bottom of the NHL when it comes to team defense, ranking 27th in the league in goals against per game at 3.26. But a Bruins’ power play stuck in a 2-for-27 drought isn’t exactly going to get much of a break on Saturday. Despite their defensive woes (most can be chalked up to Bobrovsky’s poor play), the Panthers’ penalty kill actually ranks 10th in the league with an 83.3% success rate.
- While the Panthers’ offense has been paced by the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau (37 points) and Aleksander Barkov (36 points) up front and Keith Yandle (26 points) on the blue line, Florida has also received a boost from former Bruin Brett Connolly, who is now up to 14 goals and 22 points in his first 31 games with the Panthers.