Bruins-Panthers Game 3: Projected Lines, Defensive Pairings

The Boston Bruins look will meet the Florida Panthers on Friday, as TD Garden plays host to a potentially series-shifting matchup in Game 3.

It will look a bit different than Game 1 and Game 2, however.

Sam Bennett is likely to be available for the Panthers. He’s been battling an upper-body injury as of late, missing five consecutive games after taking a shot off the hand from teammate Brandon Montour. If he does return, it’s expected he’ll jump back in alongside Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe on the second line.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery is still holding back from revealing trade secrets, but it’s expected that Andrew Peeke and Jakub Lauko will each return to the lineup. Peeke, who grew up rooting for the Panthers, missed seven games with a finger injury. Parker Wotherspoon and Jesper Boqvist will exit.

Jeremy Swayman is expected to stay in goal for Boston. He was pulled in an ugly Game 2 loss, though he’ll get another opportunity given his track record this postseason.

The B’s and Panthers are scheduled to take the ice at 7 p.m. ET on TNT, though NESN+ will still have pregame and postgame coverage. You can find the projected lines and defensive pairings for both clubs here:

BOSTON BRUINS (1-1)
Pavel Zacha — Morgan Geekie — David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand — Charlie Coyle — Jake DeBrusk
James van Riemsdyk — Trent Frederic — Justin Brazeau
Jakub Lauko — John Beecher — Pat Maroon

Mason Lohrei — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort — Andrew Peeke

Jeremy Swayman

FLORIDA PANTHERS (1-1)
Vladimir Tarasenko — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Evan Rodrigues
Nick Cousins — Kevin Stenlund — Kyle Okposo

Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky