Florida has beat the Bruins three straight time after dropping the series opener on home ice
The Florida Panthers are hoping that Tuesday night will be the last time they see the Boston Bruins this season.
Florida leads its best-of-7 second round playoff series against the Bruins 3-1 and can eliminate Boston with a win in Game 5.
Over the past two postseasons, the Panthers hold a 4-2 record in games in which they can eliminate their opponent.
Additionally, and more specifically, Florida has some gained some experience in situations like this over the past couple years.
Three of Florida's past four playoff series, going back to last year's second round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Panthers have had a chance to eliminate their opponent early in the series.
Facing a desperate team that's trying to do anything and everything they can do keep their season alive is never easy.
It's a common phrase that the fourth win of a playoff series is always the most difficult to earn.
The Panthers should feel they are ready for these situations based off the knowledge and familiarity they've gained over the past 12 months.
"It's happened twice to us, once against Toronto and once against Tampa," Maurice said of losing games Florida could have eliminated their opponent. "And then that's a learned thing. Both teams now, I think we deal with different emotions. They've got the desperation advantage – but it can't cross a line into changing the way they play – and then we've got that desire. I don't think that we skated particularly well in Game 4 of the Tampa series. That will be where our starting point is. We've got to skate."
There are no lineup changes that are expected for the Panthers.
Now that Sam Bennett is healthy, Florida’s forward lines have gone back to a grouping that saw a good amount of success since being put together by Maurice late in the season.
Here are Florida's projected lines and pairings for Game 5 against Boston:
Vladimir Tarasenko – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
Steven Lorentz – Kevin Stenlund – Kyle Okposo
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
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