Florida dropped Game 1 of their second round series on Monday night
Wednesday is going to be a big night at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Florida Panthers will be looking to even their second round series with the Boston Bruins after losing Game 1 on Monday night.
Florida outshot and out-chanced the Bruins during the series opener, but crucial mistakes fed Boston’s attack, and the visitors did a much better job capitalizing on their opportunities than their red-wearing hosts.
Now the Panthers must pick up a crucial win in Game 2 or they’ll be shipping up to Boston in an 0-2 hole.
Over the past couple postseasons, under Head Coach Paul Maurice, Florida has responded well to adversity.
With all the experience gained during last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers can lean on their experience to help calm the nerves as the games get bigger and bigger.
“Nobody’s gone 16-0, as far as I know,” Maurice said. “Everybody’s going to suffer a defeat. You’re always gonna have a game you don’t like. Rebounding and learning from it, even if it's not the critical piece to the next game, you'll always come back to it. There will be in a loss in there that’ll really help you going forward.”
Regarding the Panthers lineup, the only question regarding a possible change would be focused on center Sam Bennett.
Bennett suffered an upper-body injury after being hit by a Brandon Montour slapshot during Game 2 of the Tampa Bay Series and has not played since.
He began skating last week and was on the ice for Tuesday’s practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale.
Maurice said afterward that Bennet was “closing in” on a return.
“It’s one of the next three games for sure, I think,” Maurice said.
If Bennett doesn’t play on Wednesday, expect Florida to roll out the same group that played Game 1.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 2 against Boston IF Bennett plays:
Vladimir Tarasenko – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
Nick Cousins – Kevin Stenlund – Kyle Okposo
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
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