Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers - Prediction and Odds

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Money Line Bruins vs Panthers

Puck Line Bruins vs Panthers

Boston Bruins (Away)

Head Coach: Bruce Cassidy{All-Time 206-112-9-41 BOS, WSH}

Sitting first-overall in the league, the Boston Bruins have gone 8-2-0 across their last ten-game stretch and are currently riding a three-game winning streak.

They are coming off of a huge divisional 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Their Florida trip continues Thursday night.

Offense

Ranking first-overall is never a fluke, and the Bruins rank within the top-ten, and even top-five, for most major statistics this season.

The team has scored the sixth-most goals this season and boast the league’s leading scorer. Forward David Pastrnak leads all skaters with 47 goals in 57 games played.

The team has the eighth-highest shot total this season, most of which are turned into quality scoring chances. The team’s 10.3 shooting percentage also ranks eighth-overall.

The Bruins also lay claim to the NHL’s second-best power-play unit. At the time of writing, the Bruins have a 25.89 power-play percentage and 51 power-play goals – tied for the most in the league.

They’ll have to be careful with this speedy Florida team as the Bruins power-play unit has already allowed five shorthanded goals against this year.

Check out the favorites to win the 2020 Stanley Cup.

Defense

The Bruins’ impressive play continues on their defensive end as this team has allowed the fewest goals against this season, with just 139 goals being scored against the goaltending tandem of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak.

They have allowed the 11th-fewest shots against as well, leading to a league-leading combined save percentage of .923 and a combined seven shutouts – the second-most of any team this year.

Boston also has the league’s second-best penalty-killing unit, boasting an 84.15 percent as well as scoring four shorthanded goals.

However, they will have to be careful with Florida as Boston also does take a lot of penalties and the Panthers don’t.

Averaging just under ten minutes per game in penalties, Boston needs to stay disciplined against these opponents. It’s their most exploitable weakness.

Goaltending

Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak is expected in net for the Bruins Thursday night, and we use the term “backup” loosely.

Halak has had almost as much success as Tuukka Rask this season, posting a 17-6-6 season record with a 2.44 GAA and .917 save percentage. He has three shutouts this season as well.

Florida Panthers (Home)

Head Coach: Joel Quenneville{All-Time 923-558-77-144 FLA, CHI, COL, STL}

Currently sitting fourth in the Atlantic division, the Panthers have had the opposite luck lately than that of Boston.

Going 3-6-1 in their last ten, the Panthers are coming off of a 3-0 shutout loss to the Calgary Flames and have now lost three straight.

Offense

People may be surprised at how evenly matched these two teams are, offensively, as Boston has been known as a powerhouse for years and Florida has only recently started to find their stride.

But, the Panthers rank high in offensive statistics, even ranking above the Bruins in several.

For starters, the Panthers have a higher goal total this season than Boston. They rank fifth with a total of 203 tallies – 159 of them coming at even-strength.

Secondly, Florida has a better overall shooting percentage. Although they have fewer shots on goal than the Bruins this season, the Panthers have the league’s sixth-highest shooting percentage with a 10.5 percent.

Florida ranks below Boston when it comes to the power-play, but so do 29 other teams. However, the Panthers still rank within the league’s top-ten at ninth-overall with a 21.51 power-play percentage and 40 power-play goals.

Defense

This is where the Panthers will have their hands full. They are fully capable of winning this game, but their defensive end, including goaltending, needs to be working at full capacity. It’s been on the backend where Florida has struggled.

Florida has allowed the third-most goals against this season, allowing 198.

They’ve allowed the 11th-most shots against and this translates into one of the worst save percentages in the NHL this season at just .895 – tied as the NHL’s fifth-worst.

Their penalty killers have also struggled this year. With a penalty kill percentage of just 77.44, they sit ranked as the league’s seventh-weakest penalty killers.

Luckily, they don’t take too many penalties to begin with and they need to aim to not take any at all against this Boston team.

Goaltending

Both Florida goalies have been struggling with nagging lower-body injuries but it is still expected that Sergei Bobrovsky will be in net for Florida Thursday night. Bobrovsky has a season record of 23-19-6. His GAA sits at 3.23 and he has a .900 save percentage with one shutout this season.

Last Head-to-Head

These two teams last met on December 14 of last year. The Boston Bruins, unsurprisingly, came away as the winners, defeating the Panthers by a final score of 4-2.

What’s at Stake?

This is a game that Florida needs.

Not only will it work wonders for morale, snapping a three-game losing streak and doing it against a team like Boston, but it will also move them to only three points back of third in the Atlantic and/or the first wildcard spot.

At this point in the season, Boston can afford a loss. Sitting first-overall in the league, the Bruins have a nine-point gap between them and the next best team in the Eastern Conference.

Whose streak will come to an end?

Can Florida snap their losing skid and Boston’s winning streak or will the Bruins dominate the Panthers on their way to their fourth win in a row?

Which form of Sergei Bobrovsky will be on the ice against Boston?

Since being acquired as a free agent at the start of the season, the former two-time Vezina winner has been putting up some of the worst numbers of his career.

How important will special teams be?

We are seeing two of the best power plays go up against one another but the penalty-killing units are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Will this game be won with the man-advantage?

Boston Bruins Injury Report

D Kevan Miller – IR/NR (kneecap)

D Connor Clifton – DL (upper-body)

Florida Panthers Injury Report

F Brian Boyle – DL (upper-body)

G Sergei Bobrovsky – day-to-day (lower-body)

G Chris Driedger – DL (groin)

F Dryden Hunt – DL (lower-body)

Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers FAQ