2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Bruins vs. Panthers 1st-round preview

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Monday.
Today, NHL.com previews the Eastern Conference First Round between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.

(1A) Boston Bruins vs. (WC2) Florida Panthers

Bruins: 65-12-5, 135 points
Panthers: 42-32-8, 92 points
Season series: BOS 2-1-1; FLA 2-2-0
Game 1: Monday at Boston (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS)
The Boston Bruins have put together a historic season, winning more games in the regular season than any other team in NHL history. Their 65 wins topped the 62 put up by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, and their 135 points topped the 132 put up by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.
But the Stanley Cup Playoffs are littered with teams that did not win a championship after unprecedented regular seasons, including those Red Wings, who lost in the Western Conference Final to the Colorado Avalanche, and the Lightning, who were swept in the Eastern Conference First Round by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Bruins will open the playoffs trying to make sure that the same fate does not befall them.
"You hear these cliches, but it's true," forward Nick Foligno said. "There's a belief in here. That's why we talk about the process. That's why we talk about being in the moment, being present and the gratitude that comes with it. I think that's what's allowed us to kind of drown out the noise of what has happened in the past and forge our own path."
The Bruins lost in the first round in 2021-22, falling in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
It will be a matchup of the past two teams to win the Presidents' Trophy, with the Panthers claiming it last season before losing to the Lightning in four games in the second round.
"There's no weaknesses there," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "That's the strength of their team is the strength of it through their lineup and through their quality of play. We have to be absolutely at our best to beat them."
This season, the Panthers struggled early before turning it on at the end, winning six straight games from March 29 to April 8 before losing their final two, to claim the second wild card in the East.
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers series coverage]
For the Panthers, this will be a stiff test, though they have played the Bruins as well as any other team has this season, responsible for two of their 17 losses, one in regulation and one in overtime.
"They're the best regular-season team in history," Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We have a chance to do something very, very special. It's going to take a lot of preparation and a lot of execution."
But ultimately, the pressure will be on the Bruins. They were the team with the best regular season in NHL history; they're the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. But that starts with defeating the Panthers in the first round.
"Our regular season's been great," coach Jim Montgomery said. "But we need to win our last game of the season."

Game breakers

Bruins: David Pastrnak scored an NHL career-high 61 goals in 82 games this season, well outpacing his previous NHL career high of 48 he had in 70 games in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season. It seemed like Pastrnak, normally a streaky scorer, didn't have an off period in all of 2022-23. He managed his 58th, 59th, and 60th goals in a hat trick April 9, when the Bruins broke the regular-season wins record. He finished the season with the second-most goals in the NHL, to Connor McDavid's 64.
Panthers: Tkachuk helped drag the Panthers into the playoffs and in the process became a candidate for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player in the NHL. The forward finished the regular season with 109 points (40 goals, 69 assists) in 79 games, tied with Jason Robertson for sixth in the NHL. It was a second straight NHL career high in points for a player who has become an offensive dynamo in addition to a tough, gritty opponent. If anyone can will this series their way, it's Tkachuk.

Goaltending

Bruins: They have the best duo in hockey, with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman combining to win the William M. Jennings Trophy, awarded annually to the goalies who play at least 25 games for the team that allows the fewest goals in the NHL (174). They are led by Ullmark, the favorite for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie, who finished the season leading in most goalie categories, going 40-6-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage in 49 games (48 starts). Swayman finished with a 24-6-4 record, a 2.27 GAA and a .920 save percentage. They lack experience -- Ullmark has two postseason starts, Swayman five -- but they have been dominant this season.
Panthers: In a surprising twist, Alex Lyon has been the goalie down the stretch for the Panthers, the one that got them into the playoffs while Sergei Bobrovsky was sidelined with an illness and while Spencer Knight has been in the NHL/NHLPA employee assistance program since Feb. 24. Lyon made the final eight starts of the season, going 6-1-1 with a 1.88 GAA and .943 save percentage. Bobrovsky should be an option in the playoffs if Lyon falters; he was 24-20-3 with a 3.07 GAA and .901 save percentage in 50 games (49 starts) this season.

Numbers to know

Bruins: 52 and 2. The Bruins have held opponents to two goals or fewer in 52 of their 82 games this season. They've allowed the fewest goals against per game in the NHL this season, by far, at 2.10 to the Carolina Hurricanes' 2.54, while also scoring the second-most goals per game, with 3.65 to the Edmonton Oilers' 3.95.

Panthers: 3.32. The Panthers have allowed 3.32 goals against per game, the highest average among the 16 teams to make the playoffs and the 12th most in the NHL. The next-closest team to also make the postseason is the Oilers, who allowed 3.12 goals per game. The Panthers were sixth in goals for, at 3.51 per game.

X-factors

Bruins:Taylor Hall. Not every team can have a Hart Trophy winner on their third line, but that's how deep the Bruins are. Hall, who won the Hart in 2017-18, is back in the lineup after being out with a lower-body injury from Feb. 25 to April 8, a span of 20 games. In 61 games this season, he has 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists). He's found a home on a line with Charlie Coyle and Tyler Bertuzzi. It's the kind of line that could be a monster of a matchup problem for opponents, with Hall left cleaning up.
Panthers: Brandon Montour. The defenseman has had a breakout season at age 29 for the Panthers, scoring 73 points (16 goals, 57 assists) in 80 games after a previous career high of 37 points last season. He has five game-winning goals this season, behind only Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov on the Panthers. He's become a force this season, and if he can sneak in with some scoring, it will go a long way in keeping Florida in this series.

They said it

"What we've done has brought us here. When the playoffs start, you don't turn into a different player or turn into a different team. I think our game is very sustainable and I think it lends itself to the playoffs, and we've been building for that all year." -- Bruins forward Taylor Hall
"I like that we've been through some things, we've got some scars on us. Two or three different stretches and challenges this year that we could have easily broken. But not only did we survive, we changed our game in those times and got better. I like that we've handled some rough patches." -- Panthers coach Paul Maurice

Will win if …

Bruins: They do exactly what they've done all regular season. They have earned a spot in the conversation as the best team in regular-season history. But, as has been the case in the past, that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the playoffs. The Bruins need to be confident but not overconfident, and simply need to play the way they have been.
Panthers: If the goaltending holds. The Panthers have gotten a surprising boost from Lyon, but he has never played in the playoffs and doesn't have a lot of experience overall. He's a journeyman, but any goalie can get hot, and if he does the Panthers have a shot. They need to be able to rely on either him or Bobrovsky, who comes in with 51 games of playoff experience (46 starts) and a bit more of a resume.

How they look

Bruins projected lineup
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall -- Charlie Coyle -- Tyler Bertuzzi
Nick Foligno -- Tomas Nosek -- Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov -- Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm -- Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort -- Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
Scratched: Trent Frederic, A.J. Greer, Jakub Lauko, Matt Grzelcyk, Jakub Zboril
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg -- Eric Staal -- Anthony Duclair
Givani Smith -- Nick Cousins -- Colin White
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas
Alex Lyon
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Casey Fitzgerald
Injured: Sam Bennett (undisclosed), Patric Hornqvist (upper body)
NHL.com independent correspondent Alain Poupart contributed to this report