Panthers at Bruins preview

PANTHERS (39-29-8) at BRUINS (48-17-11)
1 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, FS-F, NHL.TV

The Bruins, 4-0-3 in their past seven games and 11-2-3 in their past 16, trail the Tampa Bay Lightning by one point for first place in the division and Eastern Conference with two games in hand following a 7-3 win by Tampa Bay at the New York Rangers on Friday.
The Panthers, 4-2-1 in their past seven games and 13-4-2 in their past 19, are three points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card with one game in hand.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games.

Bruins forward Brad Marchand has nine points (three goals, six assists) in a four-game point streak.

They said it

"He made some plays [Thursday] night that were good plays for a young guy. I think this guy's just going to get better and better every game. You can tell he's got a high hockey IQ." --Panthers coach Bob Boughner on the NHL debut of center Henrik Borgstrom in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday
"I would expect a very spirited game out of them. They've had one of the best records over the last six weeks or so for a reason. They're clicking and feeling good about their game." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Maxim Mamin
Jamie McGinn -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Jared McCann
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar -- Alexander Petrovic
James Reimer
Roberto Luongo
Scratched: Connor Brickley, Ian McCoshen, Radim Vrbata
Injured: Denis Malgin (lower body), Frank Vatrano (upper body)

Bruins projected lineup

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

Status report

The Panthers did not practice Friday. … DeBrusk will return after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. He will replace either Gionta or Wingels. ... Chara and McAvoy are skating but remain out; they will travel on Boston's upcoming three-game road trip.

Stat pack

Barkov, who has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in his past 19 games, is one goal from 100 in the NHL. ... Reimer will play in his 300th game in the League. ... Pastrnak has six points (four goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak.