Bruins at Panthers preview

BRUINS (49-18-12) at PANTHERS (41-30-8)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, TVAS, NESN, NHL.TV

The Bruins, 6-3-4 in their past 13 games after a six-game winning streak, are tied in points with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic, but hold the advantage because they have a game in hand. Tampa Bay has one more regulation/overtime win, the first tiebreaker when teams have played the same amount of games.
The Panthers, 15-5-2 in their past 22 games, will try to close the gap in the Eastern Conference wild-card chase. Florida is four points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card and five points behind the New Jersey Devils for the first wild card. The Panthers have a game in hand on each.
Roberto Luongo is expected to start for the Panthers and become the third goaltender in NHL history to appear in 1,000 games.

Players to watch

Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who will play in his 600th NHL game, has 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in his past 17 games.
Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past six games and 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in his past 22 games.

They said it

"We're looking for a better all-around game, better start. We weren't very good in the first period the other night in Tampa (a 4-0 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday). That's something we want to correct." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"The important thing is the game and trying to get the win here, keep us alive. It's going to be great to be part of a milestone, but at the end of the day it's all about the 60-minute game and making sure that we put our best foot forward and try to get the two points here." -- Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo on playing in his 1,000th NHL game

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Ryan Donato
Tim Schaller -- Noel Acciari -- David Backes
Danton Heinen -- Colby Cave -- Brian Gionta
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Adam McQuaid
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Nick Holden
Injured: Rick Nash (upper body), Tommy Wingels (hand), Riley Nash (ear), Brandon Carlo (ankle), Sean Kuraly (upper body), Anders Bjork (shoulder)

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Colton Sceviour
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Jamie McGinn
Frank Vatrano -- Jared McCann -- Nick Bjugstad
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Maxim Mamin
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar -- Alexander Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched:Connor Brickley, Radim Vrbata, Denis Malgin, Ian McCoshen
Injured: None

Status report

Rick Nash skated in Boston on Thursday and is expected to take part in the morning skate Saturday in preparation for a game against the Ottawa Senators.

Stat pack

Krug has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past eight games. ... Florida is 12-2-0 in its past 14 home games.