The Bruins have scored six goals in each of their last two games, but maintaining that impressive offensive form could be difficult against former Boston goaltender Tim Thomas.
Thomas and the Florida Panthers are in town for a Tuesday night showdown at TD Garden.
The veteran goaltender, who will start against his former team, was injured and didn’t play when the two teams last met in Boston on Nov. 7.
Thomas has played well for Florida after not playing last season. He’s 14-14-3 with a 2.65 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. The 39-year-old netminder has won two of his last three starts, and the Panthers have won or taken a point from five of the last eight games he’s started.
“It’ll be an exciting time. Timmy was a big part of this franchise for so many years and obviously we won a Cup together,” said Bruins forward Chris Kelly. “He’s been playing extremely well and he’s a great goalie. It will be exciting playing against him, he battles and that’s what you want from a goalie and an opponent.”
Tuesday’s matchup is the beginning of a four-game homestand for the Bruins, which includes meetings with the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for the Bruins and Panthers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Bruins (33-15-3, 69 points)
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Reilly Smith
Daniel Paille — Carl Soderberg — Loui Eriksson
Chris Kelly — Gregory Campbell — Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara — Dougie Hamilton
Torey Krug — Kevan Miller
Johnny Boychuk — Matt Bartkowski
Panthers (21-24-7, 49 points)
Jonathan Huberdeau — Aleksander Barkov — Tomas Fleischmann
