Preview: Panthers at Bruins

PANTHERS (12-11-2) at BRUINS (14-10-1)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVA Sports, NESN, FS-F, NHL.TV

Panthers team scope

Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Marchessault will not play because of a lower-body injury he sustained in a 2-0 loss at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Marchessault, who leads the Panthers with 10 goals and 19 points, is day to day. Coach Tom Rowe will move Denis Malgin to the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr. Malgin has four goals and four assists in 25 games. "The key there is you've got Jagr who is such a good mentor for all those young guys and he's constantly talking to him on the bench," Rowe said. "I talked to [Jagr] about it and I said 'You want to try it?' He said, 'Yeah, let's give it a shot and see where it goes.' The kid's a smart player, he's quick and I think they could be a real good combination." The Panthers are 1-2-1 in the first four games of their six-game road trip with five goals in that span.

Bruins team scope

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara likely will return to the lineup after missing six games because of a lower-body injury he sustained in the second period against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 22. "I felt good," Chara said after practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday. "Any time you're coming back to the team it's a good feeling, it's an exciting feeling." Without Chara the Bruins went 3-2-1 and allowed 10 goals. "I think we've done a good job in his absence," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "So we just got to continue to do that." The Bruins are 3-0-1 in their past four games, and 5-2-0 in their past seven games at home. Defenseman Torey Krug didn't practice Monday because of an illness but he's expected to play. Forward Matt Beleskey is out because of a lower-body injury sustained during the first period of a 2-1 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. He was being re-evaluated Monday.

Panthers projected lineup

Denis Malgin -- Aleksander Barkov -- Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen -- Vincent Trocheck -- Reilly Smith
Kyle Rau -- Nick Bjugstad -- Colton Sceviour
Paul Thompson -- Derek MacKenzie -- Shawn Thornton
Keith Yandle -- Jason Demers
Jakub Kindl -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched:Seth Griffith, Dylan McIlrath
Injured:Jonathan Marchessault (lower body), Jonathan Huberdeau (lower body), Alexander Petrovic (lower body)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Tim Schaller -- David Krejci -- David Backes
Ryan Spooner -- Riley Nash -- Austin Czarnik
Anton Blidh -- Dominic Moore -- Jimmy Hayes
Zdeno Chara -- Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug -- Adam McQuaid
Joe Morrow -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Colin Miller
Injured: Matt Beleskey (lower body), John-Michael Liles (concussion), Noel Acciari (lower body)

Status report

With Thompson playing, Griffith will be a healthy scratch. He has one assist in eight games with the Panthers since being claimed on waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 12. ... Acciari continues to practice but he will miss his 14th straight game.

Who's hot

Barkov has one goal and nine assists in his past 13 games and leads the Panthers with 12 assists. ... Rask is 7-3-1 with a .947 save percentage and 1.36 goals-against average in his past 11 games.