The Bruins (38-17-5) are back at it again tonight against the the Florida Panthers (23-31-7) after a rough game streak over the weekend. This game will be the 4th of 5 games between these two teams this season, with the Bruins leading the season series 3-0.
Tonight the team will be playing once again without Adam McQuaid, who is still struggling with that lower body injury. The Bruins will also be without Loui Eriksson, who apparently has a "minor" issue which will keep him out of tonight's line up. As a result, we can expect to see what is sure to be yet another lack luster game out of Jordan Caron. Tuukka Rask will get a rest tonight, meaning Johnson will be our starting goalie.
Tonight the team will be playing once again without Adam McQuaid, who is still struggling with that lower body injury. The Bruins will also be without Loui Eriksson, who apparently has a "minor" issue which will keep him out of tonight's line up. As a result, we can expect to see what is sure to be yet another lack luster game out of Jordan Caron. Tuukka Rask will get a rest tonight, meaning Johnson will be our starting goalie.
Bruins Projected Line Up
Lucic-Krejci-Iginla
Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Kelly-Soderberg-Caron
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Chara-Hamilton
Bartkowski-Boychuk
Krug-Miller
Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Kelly-Soderberg-Caron
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Chara-Hamilton
Bartkowski-Boychuk
Krug-Miller
Team Stats
Team: So the Panthers are still downright awful since the last time we saw them in January. They're still not as bad as the Buffalol Sabres, but they're definitely not much better. The Panthers are 0-3 against the Bruins and are coming into this game after a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders. They were 7th in the Atlantic the last time we saw them and what do you know, they're still there. Because they're awful. And only have 53 points vs the with 49 points they had the last time we saw them. They have a have a -46 goal differential now versus the -31 goal differential they had. The Panthers now average 3.15 GA/game (27th in the league) and 2.36 GF/game (25th in the league). Their power play is still the worst in the league, even worse than the Sabres, with an 9.3% conversion rate.They are 3-7-0 in their last 10.
Players: 17 of their guys have negative ratings on the ice ranging from Mottau's -2 to Gomez's -9. Five of their players are just even while a measly four players have positive ratings on the ice ranging from Jovanoski's +1 to Upshall's +6. Upshall leads the team with 30 points (164th in the league) while Boyes leads the team with 17 goals (73rd in the league).
Goalie: And Tim Thomas is back, again. He's definitely hasn't been as good as he once was obviously but we've still be able to see brief glimpses of that acrobatic man. He's played in 39 games with a 16-19-3 record. He has a .908 SV% (51st out of 84th overall), which is actually lower than it was when we last saw him, and a 2.87 GAA, which is higher than the last time we saw him (52nd overall).
Players: 17 of their guys have negative ratings on the ice ranging from Mottau's -2 to Gomez's -9. Five of their players are just even while a measly four players have positive ratings on the ice ranging from Jovanoski's +1 to Upshall's +6. Upshall leads the team with 30 points (164th in the league) while Boyes leads the team with 17 goals (73rd in the league).
Goalie: And Tim Thomas is back, again. He's definitely hasn't been as good as he once was obviously but we've still be able to see brief glimpses of that acrobatic man. He's played in 39 games with a 16-19-3 record. He has a .908 SV% (51st out of 84th overall), which is actually lower than it was when we last saw him, and a 2.87 GAA, which is higher than the last time we saw him (52nd overall).
Team: The Bruins are coming into this game after quite the impressive 6-3 win over the New York Rangers. We're still first in Atlantic Division with 81 points. We still have a +51 goal differential with an average of 2.23 GA/game (still 2nd in the league) and an average of 3.12 GF/game (5th in the league). Our penalty kill has dropped slightly overall with a 82.3% success rate (13th overall). Our power play has an improved 21% conversion rate (6th overall).
Players: 20 of our guys have positive ratings ranging from Campbell's +1 to Boychuk's +27. The others range from even to Caron's -6. Krejci is still leading the team with 52 points (29th overall out of 830) while Brad Marchand still leads the team with 20 goals (39th in the league).
Goalie: Like I mentioned, Chad Johnson will get the start tonight. He's played in 18 games with an 11-3-1 record. He has a 2.31 GAA (25th in the league) and a .917 SV% (31st in the league).
Players: 20 of our guys have positive ratings ranging from Campbell's +1 to Boychuk's +27. The others range from even to Caron's -6. Krejci is still leading the team with 52 points (29th overall out of 830) while Brad Marchand still leads the team with 20 goals (39th in the league).
Goalie: Like I mentioned, Chad Johnson will get the start tonight. He's played in 18 games with an 11-3-1 record. He has a 2.31 GAA (25th in the league) and a .917 SV% (31st in the league).