Boston Bruins to Close Out Two-Game Road Trip Against the Florida Panthers

The Bruins won the first matchup of the season between the two teams 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 30 at TD Garden.

The Boston Bruins will close out their two-game road trip Wednesday night against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena with a 7 p.m. puck drop.

Wednesday marks the second time the two teams have faced off since their April playoff series that ended the B’s postseason run earlier than expected. Boston claimed the first win of the 2023-24 campaign, though, beating Florida 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 30 at TD Garden.

Since then, the Bruins and Panthers have worked their way to the top of the Atlantic Division, sitting in first and second place with 29 and 25 points, respectively.

Boston is coming off of a 5-4 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night where it let up a Steven Stamkos tying goal with five seconds remaining in regulation before Brandon Hagel sealed the win in the extra period.

The Bruins got away from their details and were careless with the puck in big moments of the game – areas they’ll no doubt look to improve against the rival Panthers.

Jeremy Swayman got his second consecutive start Monday – the first time the Bruins have broken the goalie rotation this season. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Linus Ullmark “needed a little maintenance,” and that’s why the team went with Swayman. If not actually dealing with an injury, Ullmark should be expected to be between the pipes against Florida.

Per Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, Matt Grzelcyk, Ian Mitchell, Oskar Steen and Morgan Geekie were skating Wednesday morning, but there was no pregame skate for the rest of the team.

This likely means that Kevin Shattenkirk will be back in the lineup playing on the third pair with Derek Forbort. The veteran defenseman was scratched Monday and Mitchell slotted in for him. Oskar Steen, who has been on the fourth line with Johnny Beecher and Jakub Lauko, may be replaced by Patrick Brown.

In terms of injuries, Grzelcyk (upper body) comes off LTIR Nov. 25 and is expected to be an option for Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers. Geekie (upper body) should also be back in the rotation soon as he’s been skating the past week.

Five Things to Know about the Panthers

Florida is coming off of a 5-3 over the Edmonton Oilers Monday in which it improved to a 12-5-1 record.
Captain and forward Aleksander Barkov has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game. Barkov is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after leaving Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks due to a knee collision. He’s been skating with the team.
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in both goals and points with 25 (13 goals, 12 assists) through 18 games played. The winger is skating on the first line with Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell. Reinhart had a goal and an assist on Oct. 30 against the Bruins.
Sergei Bobrovsky will be starting in net for Florida. The goaltender has posted a 2.66 goals against average and .906 save percentage through 14 games this season.
The Panthers have won six consecutive games on home ice and have an overall 7-1-0 record at Amerant Bank Arena thus far.