After beginning the season with impressive starts, both the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers limp into their matchup at TD Garden looking to end a four-game losing streak.
There will be plenty of eyeballs on this game across the hockey world — for both B’s and Cats’ fans. The matchup marks the return of former Bruins captain Brad Marchand in his first game in Boston since being traded to the Panthers last March.
Of the 1,107 NHL games Marchand has played, all but 17 were with the Bruins, making his return that much more significant. The pesky future Hall of Famer won the Stanley Cup with both franchises, which gives him a unique insight into both teams’ dynamics. He is looking forward to facing the organization that drafted him 71st overall in the 2006 NHL draft.
“It’ll be fun to compete against the guys I’ve been playing with for a long time and be on the other side of it here,” Marchand told reporters at TD Garden on Monday, per team-provided video. “It’ll be intense, and I’m looking forward to playing in front of the Bruins fans again.”
Jeremy Swayman is expected to start for the Bruins. He last played Saturday night in Boston’s 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod for Florida. Bobrovsky gave up three goals on 31 shots in the Panthers’ 3-0 blanking to the Buffalo Sabres.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and 98.5 The Sports Hub.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for each club:
BOSTON BRUINS (3-4-0)
Morgan Geekie — Elias Lindholm — David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt — Pavel Zacha — Viktor Arvidsson
Tanner Jeannot — Fraser Minten — Michael Eyssimont
Jeffrey Viel — Sean Kuraly — Mark Kastelic
Mason Lohrei — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Andrew Peeke
Nikita Zadorov — Henri Jokiharju
Jeremy Swayman
FLORIDA PANTHERS (3-4-0)
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett –Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich –Evan Rodrigues — Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer — Luke Kunin — Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis — Jeff Petry
Sergei Bobrovsky
More Bruins: Bruins Notebook: Boston Couldn’t Get Win On Three-Game Road Trip
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