FLORIDA PANTHERS NOTES:
BAPTIST HEALTH INJURY REPORT
- F Patric Hornqvist | Games Missed: 1
- F Sam Bennett | Games Missed: 1
Total Playoff Man Games Lost Due to Injury: 2
Total Regular Season Man Games Lost Due to Injury: 239
LAST GAME
Panthers 1, Bruins 3 – April 17 – TD Garden
FLA Goals: Tkachuk (1)
BOS Goals: Pastrnak (1-PPG), Marchand (1), DeBrusk (1)
FLA Goalie: Lyon (L) – 26 Saves
BOS Goalie: Ullmark (W) – 31 Saves
FLA Shots: 32
BOS Shots: 29
Notes: Matthew Tkachuk scored his first playoff goal with the Panthers…Alex Lyon, Givani Smith and Josh Mahura skated in the first NHL playoff games…Carter Verhaeghe led Florida with six hits…Gustav Forsling paced the Cats with three blocked shots…FLA PP: 0-2, FLA PK: 1-2
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- April 18: D Uvis Balinskis agreed to terms on a one-year, entry-level contract commencing in 2023-24
- April 17: F Zac Dalpe recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- April 12: D Mike Benning agreed to terms on a 3-year, entry-level contract
PANTHERS vs. BOSTON
ALL-TIME vs. BOS: 44-50-6-10
ALL-TIME ROAD vs. BOS: 22-27-4-3
2022-23 vs. BOS: 2-2-0
CATS STATS
- Florida’s 288 goals for ranked sixth in 2022-23, the second-most single season goals in club history. Since 2021-22, the Cats’ 625 total goals leads all teams.
BACK WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
The Panthers will begin the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs – their franchise-record fourth consecutive postseason appearance – against the Presidents’ Trophy winner Boston Bruins. Florida captured the trophy during the 2021-22 campaign. The series will mark the second time the two clubs have faced off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Florida won the first matchup (the Panthers first-ever playoff series) in the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals four games to one, starting a postseason run that saw the Cats reach the Stanley Cup Final. Ray Sheppard, who scored Florida’s first-ever playoff goal in Game 1, led all skaters with eight points (4-4-8) in the series, while Jason Wooley led Cats blueliners with seven points (2-5-7).
SEASON SERIES STATS AND NOTES
- Florida and Ottawa were the only two clubs to beat the Bruins twice in 2022-23.
- Aleksander Barkov’s six points (2-4-6) against Boston were the most by one player against the Bruins this season. Barkov only faced the B’s three times in 2022-23.
- Sam Reinhart (3-2-5 in 4GP) and Matthew Tkachuk (1-4-5 in 4GP) tied for second-most points against the Bruins this season.
- Aaron Ekblad’s four points (1-3-4 in 4GP) tied for most points by a defenseman against the Bruins this season.
- Florida’s 15 goals against the Bruins were the most of any team, four more than the next-closest squad (Ottawa, 11). Only Seattle (4.00 GF/GP) held a higher goals for per game against Boston in 2022-23, having only played them twice. Florida averaged 3.75 goals per game against the B’s this season.
- Florida averaged 37.0 shots per game against the Bruins, the most of any team that played Boston more than twice in 2022-23.
- Matthew Tkachuk registered 20 total shots on goal against the Bruins, the most of any skater in 2022-23.
- The Panthers were one of just six teams to score three total power-play goals against the Bruins this season.
- Seven different Cats totaled at least three points against Boston in 2022-23, while 16 recorded at least one point and 11 tallied at least one goal.
POWER UP
The Panthers finished the regular season scoring a power-play goal in 13 of their final 17 games, scoring on 28.8% of their power plays since March 10. Over that span, the Cats tied for third-most PPGs with 17, Sam Reinhart tied Artemi Panarin for the league lead with seven power-play tallies, and Brandon Montour tied for the league lead with 13 power-play points. Aaron Ekblad also led all NHL blueliners over that span with three PPGs. Montour’s 33 power-play points ranked third among blueliners in 2022-23, while Ekblad’s eight power-play tallies are tied for most by a defenseman.
BOSTON BRUINS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME
- The Bruins host the Panthers tonight in game 2 of their best-of-7 Round One series.
- They enter tonight’s game with a 1-0 lead in the series and they have a 32-24 record in game 2s when leading a best-of-7 1-0.
- They have a 25-7 record in best-of-7 series in which they have a 2-0 record and they are 26-19 in best-of-7 series in which they are tied 1-1..
- Boston is in the post-season for the 7th straight season and 76th all-time in their history … Their 76 post-season berths are 2nd all-time in NHL history to MTL’s 85.
- This is the 8th Round One series for Boston since the NHL adopted the format in 2013-14 and they are 5-2 in those series … Overall, they are playing their 37th first round series (preliminary series, division semifinals, conference quarterfinals and round one series) with a 19-17 record entering this post-season … They are 16-12 in those series which have been best-of-7 formats.
2023 ROUND ONE SERIES
- The Bruins are 1-0 in this series so far, opening with a 3-1 win in Boston on 4/17.
- Gm 1, April 17: Fla 1 at Bos 3 – David Pastrnak (PP), Brad Marchand (GW) and Jake DeBrusk scored goals and Tyler Bertuzzi added 2A for the series lead … Linus Ullmark earned the win in net … SOG: Bos 29, Fla 32 … PP: 1/2 … PK: 0/2
- Notes: Linus Ullmark recorded his 1st career playoff victory … Tyler Bertuzze played his 1st NHL playoff game and his 1st
playoff points with 2A … Charlie Coyle played his 100th NHL playoff game … Brad Marchand scored his 50th career playoff goal,
moving into 2nd place on the team’s all-time goals list. - Gm 2, April 19: Fla 0 at Bos 0 –
- Gm 3, April 21: Bos 0 at Fla 0 –
- Gm 4, April 23: Bos 0 at Fla 0 –
- Gm 5, April 26: Fla 0 at Bos 0 – if necessary
- Gm 6, April 28: Bos 0 at Fla 0 – if necessary
- Gm 7, April 30: Fla 0 at Bos 0 – if necessary
MAN-GAMES LOST TO INJURY – 153 Regular Season – 1 Playoff
BOSTON vs FLORIDA, LIFETIME SERIES
- The Bruins and Panthers are playing their 2nd lifetime playoff series … The Panthers hold a 4-2 record in 6 lifetime games between these teams and have a 23-19 scoring edge in those games.
- They played their 1st series with the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series, won by Florida in 5 games … Florida held a 4-1 advantage in games and a 22-16 goals for/against totals.
- Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov are the lone Bruins to have played a playoff series vs. the Panthers (2022 while with Washington) prior to this postseason
2022-23 SEASON SERIES vs. FLORIDA
- The BOS went 2-1-1 vs. Florida this season (2-0-0 in BOS, 0-1-1 at Fla) with BOS holding a 17-15 scoring advantage in those 4 games.
- Boston won game 1 with a 5-3 win in Boston on 10/17; Florida took game 2 by a 5-2 road score on 11/23; Boston won game 3 with a 7-3 home victory on 12/19; and the series ended with a 4-3 Panthers win in OT on 1/28.
- Patrice Bergeron led the series with 3-3=6 totals with David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, Connor Clifton and Brad Marchand adding 4 points each.
- Linus Ullmark (2-0-0, 3.00 GAA, .925 Sv%) and Jeremy Swayman (0-1-1, 4.03 GAA, .881 Sv%) split the series in net.
2022-23 REGULAR SEASON RECAP
- The Bruins finished the season with the top record in NHL history at 65-12-5, as they topped both the wins mark at 65 and the points record at 135 … They went 34-4-3 at home and 31-8-2 on the road … They ranked 1st overall in the NHL with a .823 points percentage.
- They ranked 2nd overall with 301 goals for and was 1st overall with 174 goals against … Their power play ranked 12th at 22.2% while they ranked 1st on the penalty kill at 87.3%.
- The Bruins also led the NHL with a +128 goal differential.
- The Bruins had opened their home schedule with an NHL-record 14-game win streak … They also had a 22-game home point streak from 10-15-2022-1/2/2023 at 19-0-3.
- Five Bruins had 20-or-more goal seasons, led by David Pastrnak 61 and followed by Patrice Bergeron (27), Jake DeBrusk (27), Brad Marchand (21) and Pavel Zacha (21).
- 27 individual Bruins established career-highs in either goals, assists or points – Clifton (G, A, Pts), Jake DeBrusk (G tied, Pts), Forbort (G), Frederic (G, A, Pts), Greer (G, A, Pts), Grzelcyk (A, Pts), Lindholm (A, Pts), Nosek (Pts tied), Orlov (A, Pts), Pastrnak (G, A, Pts), Swayman (W), Ullmark (W), Zacha (G, A, Pts).
OVERTIME STATS
- The Bruins have played 144 OT games in their playoff history with a 62-79-3 overall record, 33-35-1 at home and 29-44-2 on the
road. - They have gone to multiple OTs in 27 games and they are 11-10 in 2OT games, 3-2 in 3OT games and 0-1 in the 6OT 1933 semifinal vs. TOR that was the longest such game in their history.
- 5 current Bruins have career OT playoff goals – Bergeron (team-record 4), Marchand (3), David Krejci (2), Coyle, Foligno.
PLAYOFF NUMBERS
3 – Players on Boston’s current playoff roster who were members of the 2011 Stanley Cup championship Bruins team – Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Brad Marchand.
4 – Current Bruins who have played 100+ NHL post-season games – Patrice Bergeron (167), David Krejci (157) and Brad Marchand (140) with Boston; Charlie Coyle (100 with MIN/BOS)
6 – Stanley Cups won by Boston (1929, 1939, 1941, 1970, 1972, 2011) … That is tied with CHI for 4th among NHL teams, trailing only MTL (24), TOR (13) and DET (11).
29 – Game 7 appearances by BOS, which is the most by a team in NHL history … Their 15-14 record in those games are also an NHL record for wins and represent more wins than 20 current teams have played game 7s.
76 – Overall playoff appearances for the Bruins … The Bruins hold the NHL record for consecutive playoff appearances with 29 straight from 1968-1996.
