Bruins Benders Podcast Bruins Game Day Preview
Game 18: Boston Bruins (13-1-3) at Florida Panthers (12-5-1)
Date: Wednesday, November 22
Time: 7:00 pm EST
TV: TNT, MAX
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Boston -1.5
Florida +1.5
O/U 6
Boston Bruins Notes:
Bruins are coming off a blown opportunity after a 5-4 overtime loss to Tampa Bay where they allowed a goal with less than five seconds remaining in regulation. Boston beat Florida 3-2 Oct. 30 on Pavel Zacha’s overtime goal. The Bruins own the top penalty killing unit in the NHL at 90.8 percent.
Florida Panthers Notes:
The Panthers enter Wednesday’s game having recovered from their slow start. Florida has won seven of its last eight games after winning just five of the opening 10 contests. The Panthers have struggled some on the penalty kill with just a 75.4 percent success rate.
Boston Bruins Lineup:
Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak
Van Riemsdyk-Coyle-Frederic
Heinen-Poitras-DeBrusk
Lauko-Beeher-Steen
Lohrei-McAvoy
Lindholm-Carlo
Forbort-Shattenkirk
Ullmark
Swayman
Florida Panthers Lineup:
Luostarinen-Lundell-Reinhart
Verhaeghe-Bennett-Tkachuk
Rodrigues-Stenlund-Cousins
Gadjovich-Lorentz-Lomberg
Forsling-Ekblad
Mikkola-Montour
Ekman-Larsson-Kulikov
Bobrovsky
Stolarz
Players To Watch:
Boston – David Pastrnak has only gone pointless in three games and is currently riding a seven-game point streak. Against the Panthers in the postseason last year, Pastrnak had five goals in seven games. Linus Ullmark is in net for Boston. For the first time this season, the Bruins started the same goalie in consecutive games, with the team turning to Jeremy Swayman against the Montreal Canadiens and again against the Lightning. Head Coach Jim Montgomery told the media that Ullmark needed a little maintenance.
Florida – Through seven games, Sam Reinhart has scored a goal-per-game pace, with seven tallies (and two assists) for Florida. Reinhart has been held off the scoresheet in just two of those seven games, too.
The No. 2 overall pick from the 2014 NHL Draft, Reinhart scored three goals and five points in four head-to-heads with the Bruins during the regular season last year.
injuries:
Boston – Morgan Geekie (Upper Body), Milan Lucic (Lower Body, Leave of Absence), Matt Grzelcyk (Upper Body)
Florida – Aleksander Barkov (Lower Body), Josh Mahura (Lower Body)
Next game
Boston – November 24 vs Detroit
Florida – November 24 vs Winnipeg
