Florida is 0-6-1 at home since a 4-3 victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 16, including a 3-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky did not practice the past two days after being scratched from his scheduled start against Calgary because of a lower-body injury sustained in warmups, but coach Joel Quenneville didn't rule him out against the Bruins. Sam Montembeault started against the Flames and goalie Chris Driedger was recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. Florida is five points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division and five points behind the New York Islanders for the second Wild Card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Bruins have won three in a row and are 14-3-0 in their past 17 games. They have a nine-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning for first in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference after their 2-1 victory at Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
Players to watch
Bruins forward Brad Marchand has a four-game goal streak, and 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) during a 10-game point streak. Panthers forward Noel Acciari has an NHL career-high 20 goals and leads the Panthers in even-strength goals with 19 after scoring 18 goals (17 even strength) in 180 games with the Bruins.
They said it
"I can't comment on what [the Panthers'] game plan is, but they typically want to outscore teams. That's the way they're built. We have to force them to defend in their own end, defend the slot." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy "We're going to have to play our best game, and we need that right now. We sort of need everybody going again, scoring goals and contributing any way we can. What better way to do that [than] against one of the top teams in the League to get our confidence back?" - Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar
Neither team had a morning skate. … Marchand is expected to play despite missing practice Wednesday because of an illness, which kept him to a season-low 14:36 ice time against Tampa Bay. … Boyle will miss his 15th consecutive game, but the forward practiced the past two days and Quenneville said he could return to the lineup next week.
Stat pack
Chara will play in his 1,551st NHL game and move past Alex Delvecchio for sole possession of 15th place on the all-time list. … Haula leads the NHL in faceoff win percentage (66.7) since Feb. 22 among players with at least 50 faceoffs.
