BOSTON – The Bruins have exhaled and taken a bit of a break each of the last two times they built up a cushion for their wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. That’s continued to allow both Florida and Ottawa to skulk around within a handful of points of the Bruins, and now the B’s will host the Panthers on Tuesday night at TD Garden with a four point lead on the Florida team.
They also hold a three-point lead on the Senators, though Ottawa has a game in hand against the Black and Gold while Boston holds the all-important ROW first tiebreaker against the Senators. The Bruins have won seven straight games at TD Garden over a Panthers team that’s been largely woeful over the last few years, and would like to extend that dominating performance.
But they know it’s not going to be easy, and will be treating the game as such accordingly.
“I think right now it’s about taking things a game at a time, and that’s what you do in the playoffs, and in Game 7’s,” said Patrice Bergeron. “It’s definitely one of those things where you need to be playing your best hockey every night, and make sure everybody shows up and plays to their strength.
“It’s definitely going to be like this for the rest of the year, and it’s going to be a huge battle. We know what’s at stake for both teams, so we know it’s going to be a tough game.”
Essentially the playoff hopes for the Panthers will be snuffed out with a regulation loss to the Black and Gold, so they’ll need to be prepared for a life or death effort from this scrappy Florida group. If not then the B’s will probably get the same result as the unsatisfying shootout loss in Florida less than two weeks ago.
Notes
*Former Bruins forward Brad Boyes will return to the lineup for the Panthers on Tuesday night after being scratched from Florida’s last game. There was no confirmation from Gerard Gallant as to whether Steve Kampfer or Shawn Thornton would be playing against their former team.
*Jonathan Huberdeau has two goals and six points during a four game point streak for the Panthers.
*Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak continue to carry the offense for the Black and Gold during the month of March, and Spooner leads the Bruins with six goals and 12 points in 14 games this month.
*The Bruins have taken seven consecutive games against the Panthers at TD Garden, but the Panthers snapped an overall nine game losing streak to the Black and Gold with their shootout win last week.
* Luongo is 0-4-1 with a 5.14 goals-against average in his last five starts in Boston, including three defeats with Vancouver in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, but will be going for his 400th career win in Boston. That would move him to within one win of Chris Osgood for 10th all-time on the NHL goaltender win list.
*Injuries: Bruins -- Brett Connolly (finger), Dougie Hamilton (shoulder) and Kevan Miller (shoulder) are all out for Tuesday night’s game vs. Florida. Connolly is skating with the team and is “getting closer” to a possible debut for the Bruins prior to the end of the regular season. Florida: Goalie Al Montoya (lower body) and forward Nick Bjugstad (back) are out for the Panthers.