The Boston Bruins will be looking to take advantage of a struggling Florida Panthers team when the two clubs face off at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon.
After hitting a four-game slump in mid-March, the Bruins finished out the month strong by collecting three straight wins, giving them a slightly stronger hold on the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a three-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The B’s also are only one point back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.
The Panthers, on the other hand, are riding a three-game skid into their matchup on Boston’s home ice and are well out of the playoff picture in the East with 77 points to the Bruins’ 88. However, they have a little extra motivation Saturday, as it’ll be the final game in Boston for forward Shawn Thornton, who spent seven seasons of his 14-year career with the Bruins.
Here are the projected lineups for Saturday’s 1 p.m. ET matchup.
BOSTON BRUINS (41-30-6)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Backes
Drew Stafford–David Krejci–David Pastrnak
Matt Beleskey–Ryan Spooner–Jimmy Hayes
Dominic Moore–Riley Nash–Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara–Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug–Adam McQuaid
John-Michael Liles–Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
FLORIDA PANTHERS (33-33-11)
Jonathan Huberdeau–Nick Bjugstad–Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen–Vincent Trocheck–Reilly Smith
Thomas Vanek–Colton Sceviour–Jonathan Marchessault
Shawn Thornton–Michael Sgarbossa–Derek MacKenzie
Keith Yandle–Jason Demers
Michael Matheson–Alex Petrovic
Mark Pysyk–Jakub Kindl
Reto Berra
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
