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Here’s what to know about the Panthers and an anticipated playoff rematch with the Bruins
The Bruins will look to exact some revenge against a Panthers team that ended their season in 2023-24.
The Bruins and Panthers are set for a postseason collision course once again.
After David Pastrnak and the Bruins emerged victorious against the Maple Leafs in Game 7 on Saturday, Boston will catch a flight down to South Florida Sunday afternoon and steel itself for a second-round bout against a familiar foe.
Game 1 between the Bruins and Panthers is set for 8 p.m. on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena. Florida punched its ticket to the second round after extinguishing the Lightning in five games during their first-round matchup.
“I watched the first round, they absolutely dominated,” Brad Marchand said of Florida after Saturday’s Game 7 win. “They’re a very, very difficult matchup. So another opportunity to be excited about it and a great challenge ahead of us.”
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The Bruins will be looking to exact revenge against the Panthers, who shredded Boston’s record-setting, storybook season last spring by upsetting them in the first round of the playoffs.
Here’s what you need to know about the Bruins’ second-round opponent:
Florida’s offense revolves around a bruising forecheck, shots from blue line
As Bruins fans watching last postseason can certainly attest to, the Panthers are at their best when they’re throwing their weight around and creating chaos on the forecheck — and peppering goalies from the high slot thanks to aggressive blueliners.
With the pugnacious Matthew Tkachuk (nine points in five playoff games already) leading the way, the Panthers generate quality chances around netminders by forcing turnovers in Grade-A ice, pressuring puck carriers and capitalizing off the chaos that ensues when putting opponents under duress.
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Over the course of their five-game series with Tampa Bay, the Panthers led 10-5 in goals scored from high-danger areas, while five different Florida skaters logged at least 20 hits in that first-round bout with the Bolts.
Tkachuk might be the straw that stirs the drink for Florida, but that suffocating forecheck allows Paul Maurice’s team to pressure defenses regardless of who hops over the boards. In total, 18 different players recorded at least a point over those five playoff games against Tampa Bay.
One player to keep tabs on is Florida forward Sam Bennett, who tormented the Bruins last postseason on a line next to Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Bennett suffered an upper-body injury against Tampa Bay in Round 1, but was ruled as a “possibility” for a return in Round 2 vs. Boston.
Even without Bennett, the Panthers should have enough firepower in place to keep both Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark on their toes — especially when defensemen like Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Gustav Forsling join the rush or activate off the blue line.
According to AllThreeZones’ tracking data, the Panthers ranked first among all NHL teams in 2023-24 in both behind-the-net passes and low-to-high passes — leading to a salvo of Grade-A looks.
Beyond Boston needing to execute clean passes on its breakout (or showing a willingness to flip the puck out of danger and fight another day), Jim Montgomery’s team will need to get the ice bags ready for the amount of shots sailing in from the likes of Montour and the rest of Florida’s D corps.
Florida might be the best defensive team in the NHL
What a difference a season makes.
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After entering the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs 21st overall in goals against per game (3.32), Florida led the league in that same category this season (2.41).
The strong play in net between Sergei Bobrovsky (.915 save percentage, six shutouts) and Anthony Stolarz (.925 save percentage over 27 games) has played a key role in Florida’s defensive about-face.
In some respects, an elite forecheck bleeds into strong returns down the other end of the ice — with opposing offenses stifled around their own net thanks to Florida’s commitment to landing welts against whoever is holding onto the puck.
But Florida also boasts arguably the best defensive forward in the league in the post-Bergeron era in captain Aleksander Barkov — as well as one top best shutdown pairs in Aaron Ekblad and Forsling.
Along with tallying 80 points (23 goals, 57 assists) over 73 games, Barkov’s defensive game routinely tilts the ice in Florida’s favor. In Barkov’s 928:21 of 5-on-5 ice time this season, the Panthers outscored opponents, 53-23.
While routinely matched up against some of Tampa’s top weapons in the first round, the Ekblad-Forsling pairing only relinquished two 5-on-5 goals over 78:33 of 5-on-5 reps.
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The Bruins will need to make the most of the opportunities that present themselves against a stingy Florida defense. Unlike the Maple Leafs, the Panthers boast a strong penalty kill that tied with Boston with an 82.5% success rate during the regular season.
The Bruins had success against Florida in 2023-24
For all of the misery that Florida inflicted against the Bruins last April, Boston more than held its own against the Panthers during regular-season play in 2023-24.
The Bruins went 4-0-0 against the Panthers this season, headlined by two OT winners (via tallies from Pavel Zacha and Jesper Boqvist) and an impressive comeback victory down in Sunrise on March 26.
That 4-3 road win in March might have been the most important result of the season for the Bruins, coming just a day after Jim Montgomery’s public call-out of his team and bag-skate practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
The Bruins have elevated their play against Florida during regular-season action, especially Linus Ullmark.
Ullmark won three of those four games against the Panthers this season, sporting a .947 save percentage over that stretch. Swayman stole a first-round series for Boston against the Maple Leafs, but the Bruins might have to rely on both netminders against a dangerous Panthers opponent.
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