The Bruins are hoping their home away from home is just what’s needed to put an end to their Stanley Cup playoff first-round series with the Panthers.
Boston will look to send Florida packing with its third win of the series in Sunrise, Fla., on Friday night in Game 6 (pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NESN). And after a disappointing Game 5 overtime loss in Boston, it doesn’t sound like Bruins coach Jim Mongomery is pushing any sort of panic button when it comes to his Game 6 lines.
That’s not to say the Bruins aren’t making any changes, though. Montgomery told reporters in Florida that Connor Clifton is drawing back into the lineup for Matt Grzelcyk. That likely means Clifton will skate alongside Derek Forbort, allowing Dmitry Orlov to jump up to the top pairing with Charlie McAvoy. Speaking of McAvoy, he didn’t participate in the morning skate but is good to go for Game 6.
Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark also skipped Friday morning’s workout, but Montgomery took any drama out of that potential decision, announcing Ullmark will start his sixth straight game of the series.
There’s also a chance David Krejci is back for the Bruins on Friday night. He was in a non-contact jersey for morning skate, but he told reporters he’ll take the warmup before the game, presumably to see how he feels. The veteran center has missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury.
On the other side of the rink, Panthers coach Paul Maurice wouldn’t name a starter, but it’s hard to believe Sergei Bobrovsky wouldn’t get another shot in net after an impressive Game 5 performance.
Assuming Krejci doesn’t go, here’s what the Bruins lines could look like Friday night for Game 6 against the Panthers.
BOSTON BRUINS (3-2)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Jake DeBrusk
Tyler Bertuzzi — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall — Charlie Coyle — Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno — Tomas Nosek — Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort — Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
FLORIDA PANTHERS (2-3)
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Anthony Duclair
Nick Cousins — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Sam Reinhart
Colin White — Eric Staal — Zac Dalpe
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Eklbad
Marc Staal — Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura — Radko Gudas
Sergei Bobrovsky
