The Boston Bruins welcome back the Florida Panthers to TD Garden, where Florida upset them in seven games during the 2023 First Round en route to their Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
The Boston Bruins welcome back the Florida Panthers to TD Garden, where Florida upset them in seven games during the 2023 First Round en route to their Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – The Boston Bruins face the Florida Panthers on Monday, the same team that ended their historic 65-win season prematurely exactly six months ago. The Panthers went on to reach the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights and former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy.
For this year’s Bruins squad, which has started off with an Eastern Conference-best 7-0-1 record, this early season divisional matchup is not just any other game.
“It’s not one of 82 [games],” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “They ended our season. They went all the way to the [Stanley Cup] Finals. Our summers were miserable until the Finals were over, and that’s because they beat us. So yeah, this means more.”
Here is how the Boston lined up during Monday’s morning skate:
Brad Marchand - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk - Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk
Trent Frederic - Matt Poitras - Morgan Geekie
Danton Heinen - Johnny Beecher - Oskar Steen
Patrick Brown*
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Kevin Shattenkirk
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
*= Interestingly, Brown was rotating in for some line rushes on the third line defensive pair alongside Shattenkirk.
Heinen, practicing under a Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO), remains unsigned at the moment. However, he practiced on the fourth line left wing alongside Beecher and Steen. He also led the team in stretches afterwards and received a round of stick taps before entering the center of the circle, indicating news on his signing could be on the horizon.
“Nothing official on Heinen,” Montgomery said on Monday. He claimed the reason for the reception at the end of practice was because Heinen was voted “practice player of the day,” followed by a chuckle.
Whether Heinen officially joins the team on Monday or in the coming days, Montgomery likes the way the 28-year-old forward has stayed engaged despite playing under the PTO for nearly two months, saying he’s made “a lot of smart plays,” during practices.
As for the matchup on Monday, the middle six looks like it will be shuffled around, with Coyle and van Riemsdyk swapping up to the second line in place of Poitras and Geekie. Given the extra attention Poitras has received from opponents, in the form of late hits and cross-checks, putting him back on a line with Frederic is partially a protective measure.
“I’ll be out there if anything happens,” Frederic said. “You can’t necessarily stop it, but you can definitely be there when something does, and hopefully it limits it. He’s (Poitras) a good player, he’s quick. He turns so well that guys can really only sometimes take him down cheaply, so it’s good on him that he’s getting that extra attention.”
The Panthers enter Monday’s contest with the worst penalty kill in the league, having allowed nine power play goals out of 27 opportunities (66.67% killed). They have allowed at least one power play goal in every game this season except for one, when they allowed just one opportunity in a 3-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. Monday could mark a big opportunity for the Bruins' power play, which is slowly working back into form, to take the next step forward.
Part of Florida’s struggles can be attributed to them missing multiple key players, such as top defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, who are both out with shoulder injuries. Forward Sam Bennett (lower body) is a possibility to make his season debut on Monday, according to Florida coach Paul Maurice.
Despite Florida’s injuries, Montgomery sees a lot of similarities between last year’s group and this season’s.
“They’re a real hard forechecking team,” Montgomery said. “They’re a team that, their defensemen press and keep pucks alive in the offensive zone really well, which is even better than their forecheck, in my estimation. They’re breaking pucks out well, and they’re defending the rush better than they did last year.”
Follow along with The Hockey News for all of Monday’s game coverage.