Since the season’s opening week, the Boston Bruins have been the league’s best team, something current Florida Panthers fans know all about, with these two franchises winning back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies in 2022 and 2023.
Interestingly, the Panthers collected 122 points for their best campaign in team history last year. At the same time, the Bruins destroyed the NHL record book in 2022-23, setting an abundance of new milestones, including wins (65) and points (135).
Although the Bruins hardly faced adversity during their historical trek to immortality, the Panthers struggled for most of the campaign, only claiming their playoff spot in the final days of the regular season. Now, old Eastern Conference rivals will meet for just the second time in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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By the numbers: Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers
As mentioned, there was hardly any stopping the Bruins during the regular season as the team finished with a 65-12-5 record. This included splitting the season series with the Panthers, 2-2. Heading into Game 1 on Monday night, the Bruins are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games, losing just four times since March 1.
Luckily, the Bruins weathered the storm of late-season injuries, losing key players like captain Patrice Bergeron, Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, David Krejci, Tomas Nosek, Derek Forbert, and Linus Ullmark.
Ultimately, their replacements, which include trade deadline acquisitions like Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway, have made Boston even stronger and capable of handling any potential long-term absences that may come over the next two months.
Meanwhile, the Panthers snuck into the playoffs as opponents like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres fizzled down the stretch. Since the NHL trade deadline, Florida has played meaningful games, earning every possible point to secure its fourth straight playoff appearance, extending a club record. Additionally, the team has not played through significant injuries, only losing Sam Bennett on March 20 and Patric Hornqvist to a concussion in December.
Despite the health of the lineup, which had some turnover in the offseason, the team’s only controversy came in the goal crease where Sergei Bobrovsky did not repeat last season’s heroics.
After producing a 39-7-3 record in 2021-22, he came crashing down to earth with a mediocre 24-20-3 record, failing to keep his starter’s role from Alex Lyon. Although Lyon produced a 3-3 record during a brief call-up in January, he played most of the games down the stretch appearing in nine games from March 21 to April 13, earning a 6-2-1 record.
Even though head coach Paul Maurice has yet to name a Game 1 starter, goaltending could be the most significant question mark for the Panthers. However, outside of stopping the puck, the team won’t have to worry about offense. Matthew Tkachuk set a career-high with 109 points one season after breaking into the century club with 104.
Furthermore, the team’s attack runs through Tkachuk, who had 30 points (12 goals and 18 assists) in the final 20 games of the regular season to will his team into the final playoff spot.
An in-depth look into key players to watch for Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers
Hockey fans who follow injury news and brilliant performances in previous Stanley Cup Playoffs will remember that in 2013, Patrice Bergeron helped the Bruins win Game 7 of the Final with several injuries, including a broken rib, torn rib cartilage, a separated shoulder, and a small puncture in his lung.
Currently, the Boston captain is day-to-day with minor ailments, which could ultimately come into play during this first-round matchup.
Although the team hasn’t missed a beat in their performance without their leader, he is their best faceoff man and one of the critical members of the first power-play unit. Since he’s been in and out of the lineup, his long-time linemate, Brad Marchand, has been in a scoring slump with two goals since March 9.
As mentioned, goaltending will play a significant part in the series, with Vezina Trophy front-runner, Linus Ullmark looking to exorcise the ghosts of playoffs past. After an historical season in the crease, with a 1.89 goals-against average (GAA) and .938 save percentage (SV%), Ullmark will look to continue his recent success in the postseason. He is currently 0-2 with a 4.16 GAA and .860 SV% in the postseason.
Interestingly, most fans would think Tkachuk was the Panthers’ best player, but many forget Carter Verhaeghe, who may have had one of the quietest 42-goal seasons in league history. After tying Alex Ovechkin for ninth in goals, Verhaeghe’s career season beat out other star players like Auston Matthews and Kirill Kaprizov, who hovered around 40 goals but couldn’t get a few extras.
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Will the Bruins and Panthers’ history have an impact on this series?
According to statistics from Hockey-Reference.com, the Bruins and Panthers have played 110 regular season contests, with Boston having an advantage of 60-37-6-7. Additionally, the Bruins lead on the scoreboard by a margin of 323-282, good enough for 2.94 goals per game and 2.56 goals against per game.
Historically, these two teams had only met once in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 1995-96, the Panthers skated away with a 4-1 victory in the first round. After building up a 3-0 series lead, Florida lost Game 4 before finishing the series in five while averaging 4.4 goals per game.
Interestingly, the Bruins enjoy playing at FLA Live Arena, with a 25-15-2-3 record in 45 visits, while the Panthers have a losing record at TD Garden, going 20-26-3-3 in 52 contests. Moreover, as the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Bruins earned home-ice advantage for the series, hosting games 1 and 2, with the possibility of game 5 and game 7 if need be.
Bruins v. Panthers prediction: Bruins in 6