Florida Panthers (42-32-8, fourth in the Atlantic Division) vs. Boston Bruins (65-12-5, first in the Atlantic Division)
Boston; Monday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Bruins host series opener
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Bruins host the Florida Panthers to begin the Eastern Conference first round. The teams meet Monday for the sixth time this season. The Panthers went 3-2 against the Bruins in the regular season. In their last regular season meeting on Oct. 17, the Bruins won 5-3.
Boston has gone 65-12-5 overall with an 18-5-3 record in Atlantic Division play. The Bruins are second in the league with 301 total goals (averaging 3.7 per game).
Florida is 17-6-3 against the Atlantic Division and 42-32-8 overall. The Panthers are 39-13-6 when scoring at least three goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: David Pastrnak has scored 61 goals with 51 assists for the Bruins. Tyler Bertuzzi has three goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.
Matthew Tkachuk has 40 goals and 69 assists for the Panthers. Carter Verhaeghe has six goals and two assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 9-1-0, averaging 3.2 goals, 5.4 assists, 4.9 penalties and 12.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game.
Panthers: 6-3-1, averaging 3.8 goals, 6.5 assists, 5.3 penalties and 15.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game.
INJURIES: Bruins: Nick Foligno: out (lower-body), Patrice Bergeron: day to day (upper body), Derek Forbort: out (lower body), Linus Ullmark: day to day (undisclosed), David Krejci: day to day (lower body), Tomas Nosek: day to day (illness).
Panthers: Patric Hornqvist: out (concussion), Sam Bennett: out (groin).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
