Bruins Benders Podcast Game Day Preview
Game 1: Boston Bruins (0-0-0) at Florida Panthers (0-0-0)
Date: Tuesday, October 8
Time: 7:00 pm
TV: ESPN
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Boston +1.5 ML +136
Florida -1.5 ML -162
O/U 5.5
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
Boston Bruins Notes:
The Bruins were eliminated by the Florida Panthers from the Stanley Cup Playoffs each of the last two seasons. Boston added defenseman Nikita Zadorov and forwards Max Jones and Mark Kastelic to match some of the size and toughness that Florida has used to defeat Boston in the past. The Bruins still have question marks at the line right wing and will look for many players to step up to offer balanced scoring.
Florida Panthers Notes:
On Tuesday night, the Panthers will raise their Stanley Cup banner to the rafters and begin their title defense. Florida returns eight of their top nine forwards from last season.
Boston Bruins Lineup:
Zacha-E. Lindholm-Pastrnak
Marchand-Coyle-Geekie
Jones-Frederic-Brazeau
Beecher-Kastelic-Koepke
Lindholm-McAvoy
Lohrei-Carlo
Zadorov-Peeke
Korpisalo
Swayman
Florida Panthers Lineup:
Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart
Rodrigues-Bennett-Tkachuk
Luostarinen-Lundell-Samoskevich
Gadjovich-J. Boqvist-Greer
Forsling-Ekblad
Mikkola-Balinskis
Kulikov- A. Boqvist
Bobrovsky
Driedger
Players To Watch:
Boston – Captain Brad Marchand needs one goal to tie Rick Middleton for fourth place in Bruins history with 402. Johnny Bucyk (545), Phil Esposito (459), and Patrice Bergeron (427) occupy the top three spots. Jeremy Swayman, a 25-year-old Alaska native, was a first-time All-Star last season as he went 25-10-8 with a 2.53 GAA and a .916 save percentage. In three career games against the Panthers, he is 1-1-1 with a 3.69 GAA and an .875 percentage.
Florida – Sasha Barkov is the franchise leader in career games (737), goals (266), assists (445) and points (711). Gustav Forsling led Panthers defensemen with 39 points and topped the league with a plus-56 rating.
Injuries:
Boston – Matt Poitras (Undisclosed)
Florida – Tomas Nosek (Undisclosed)
Next game
Boston – October 10 vs Montreal at 7:00 pm
Florida – October 10 vs Ottawa at 7:00 pm
