3 Keys: Panthers at Bruins, Game 1 of Eastern 1st Round

(1A) Boston Bruins at (WC2) Florida Panthers

The Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers begin the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden with Game 1 on Monday.
The game -- and the series -- could be an uphill climb for the Panthers against a team that set a new regular-season record of 65 wins. But the Bruins may or may not have forward Patrice Bergeron in their lineup, which could provide the Panthers the opening they need to steal a game in Boston.
The Bruins have had an illness sweep through their dressing room over the past 10 days to two weeks.
"We have not only Bergeron, but a couple guys that have been under the weather," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "I don't have a definitive lineup right now for tonight."
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers coverage]
The Panthers have played as well against the Bruins as any other team this season, responsible for two of their 17 losses (one in regulation, one in overtime).
"We're going in with some scars, which is good, but they heal," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "We survived them. We had some tough stretches this year where there was a lot of mental toughness needed. That's what this series is going to be all about. You're not controlling the whole series, not coming in and dominating the Boston Bruins.
"Nobody's going four straight here."
The Bruins enter the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak, including games they rested some of their stars, and winning 15 of their final 16. The Panthers won six straight to get back into the race for the wild card in the Eastern Conference before losing their final two.
"I don't even know if underdog is a right phrase for us right now; it's probably more than that," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "Going against the talent and everything they've done this year over there. So we have our hands full and we have to play very, very, very well, if not perfect."
Both teams, though, are ready for the series to kick off. They're eagerly anticipating Game 1.
"I woke up at 4:30 [a.m.]," Montgomery said. "I was wide awake. I'm still wide awake now. … It's the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There's no better thing in the world to me than being part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, representing the spoked-B and being able to go out and play in front of our fans tonight."
Here are 3 keys for Game 1:

1. Health of the Bruins

Perhaps the most important question mark for the Bruins is their health.
With that bug sweeping through the team, the Bruins could be without not only Bergeron, but a couple of players.
Montgomery said there could be a handful of game-time decisions.
"It's just, unfortunately, someone else gets it when someone else we thought is done with it. …," he said. "We've had guys, like [Jakub] Lauko lost eight pounds when he had it. It's that recovery strength."
Bergeron, the Bruins captain, was removed from the regular season finale after the first period against the Montreal Canadiens on April 13. It was precautionary and didn't seem to be anything to worry about.
But Bergeron did not practice either Saturday or Sunday. If he does not play, his spot will be taken by Pavel Zacha, who has mostly played wing but whose natural position is center.
Zacha had a breakout season with 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists), 21 points more than his previous NHL career high of 36 points for the New Jersey Devils last season.
"A little bit," Montgomery said, on how concerning it is. "I'd love to come in here and tell you our exact lines and D pairings and who's starting in nets, but the luxury we have is we have incredible depth and whoever ends up being healthy enough to go tonight, we know we're going to have a good opportunity to have success if we play Bruins hockey. We know it's going to be a great test no matter what, no matter who is in the lineup for us because we know how good the Florida Panthers are."

2. Net presence for Panthers

Goalie Alex Lyon took over as Panthers starter down the stretch with Spencer Knight's entrance into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Feb. 24 and an illness that's prevented Sergei Bobrovsky from playing.
Lyon made the final eight starts of the season, going 6-1-1 with a 1.87 goals-against average, .943 save percentage and one shutout. Bobrovsky finished 24-20-3 with a 3.07 GAA, .901 save percentage and one shutout in 50 games (49 starts).
The 30-year-old will start Game 1, his first chance at NHL postseason hockey.
"He's really good," Maurice said. "He's played really well for us. That's it. Not overthinking a whole lot. The hockey that he played, so he has two tours with us, as we'd like to say. The first one he came in, he just battled his butt off in the net, and he covered a lot of ice in the net. The next time he came back up, he's been square, he's been really efficient, and his timing's been really good.
"We got two good goalies, and I'm comfortable with either of them, but Lyon's deserved the start."

3. Special teams advantage

The Bruins went through a long dip with their power play before righting the ship near the end of the season, going 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) in seven games before they were 0-for-6 in the finale. Boston was 29.2 percent with the man-advantage in its last eight games, better than the 22.2 percent that ranked 12th in the regular season.
And the penalty kill isn't where the Panthers shine. They were 23rd in the NHL (76.0 percent), so it's an area the Bruins can exploit offensively.
The other side may be even more lopsided. Florida was 22.8 percent on the power play (10th). Boston was first in penalty killing (87.3 percent).
"Statistically, both teams' [have] got really dynamic power plays," Maurice said. "But their penalty kill is elite. Our penalty kill in the last five or six games has gotten a lot better, but over 82 [games] that's where the aberration really between the two teams is, is that their penalty kill is world class.
"So we do have to stay out of the penalty box because we may not get quite as much action on our power play if it's even in penalties. That's to their advantage in some ways because their penalty kill is so strong. Discipline is critical."

Panthers projected lineup

Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Anthony Duclair
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg -- Eric Staal -- Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins -- Colin White -- Givani Smith
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas
Alex Lyon
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched:Zac Dalpe, Mike Benning, Casey Fitzgerald, Evan Fitzpatrick
Injured:Patric Hornqvist (concussion), Sam Bennett (groin)

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:Jakub Zboril, Jakub Lauko, Brandon Bussi, Matt Grzelcyk, Trent Frederic, A.J. Greer
Injured:None

Status report

Bennett, a forward, participated in the Panthers morning skate, but Florida coach Paul Maurice said, "he needs two or three more days where he builds, and one or two heavy push days on the ice, and if he gets through that, he'll come back in." … Hornqvist, a forward, skated in a yellow non-contact jersey. … Dalpe, a forward, was an emergency callup Monday. … Bergeron and Ullmark, among others, will be game-time decisions. … Montgomery confirmed Krejci and Forbort will play Game 1. Krejci missed the final six games of the regular season, and Forbort returns for the first time since March 16. ... Bussi, a goalie, was an emergency callup.
NHL.com independent correspondent Joe Pohoryles contributed to this report