The Boston Bruins continue their tour of the Sunshine State. After the game at the stadium against the Tampa Bay Lightning (5:6 SO), they now move under the roof of the Amerant Bank Arena, where the Florida Panthers will host them.
Florida Panthers
It will be important for the Florida Panthers to manage their energy, because unlike the Boston Bruins, they have to play the Tampa Bay Lightning again the following day in an even more important game, and then come the Olympic Games. Why is this one seen as less important? Yes, Brad Marchand is injured and will not take the ice against his former team. But overall, the hosts are bottom of the division. If they beat the Boston Bruins, they will at least close the gap to them by two points.
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins, meanwhile, have had two days to recover from the classic at the multi-purpose Raymond James Stadium, which had everything – a flurry of goals and even a fight between both goaltenders, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jeremy Swayman. That is all very entertaining, but Marco Sturm’s team are now without two centres, Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm (both on 37 points), and the drop-off in scoring is significant. Even so, in their last five games the team have scored at least three goals, although they have won only three of them.
Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins Prediction
The Florida Panthers have not just lost their last four games – they have lost all four at home. Their fall to last place in the East is no surprise. In this situation, we prefer to focus not on the result but on goals.
