Panthers at Bruins, Game 4: Marchand Out, Boston Expected to Retaliate

BOSTON — Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand will not play tonight in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers after sustaining a suspected concussion in a collision with Sam Bennett they say was over the line.

The Panthers should expect a pretty angry Bruins bunch tonight.

“I think we have to really go after their top guys,’’ Pavel Zacha told reporters. “Let them know it’s not OK to go after our captain. That’s not OK with us. We’re ready to be physical again today and be a little bit harder on them.’’

Said Trent Frederic: “I think it pissed off everyone. I think that whole team kind of ticks everyone off, to be honest.’’

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery took personal responsibility for his squad not fighting back after the play.

“I feel it’s my fault that we didn’t retaliate to some degree,” Montgomery said. “But you’re trying to get back in the game. It’s 1-0 up until they get the four-minute power play. Then we start the third and we score right away. Now we’ve got juices going. There’s reasons why we didn’t. That’s something I personally take responsibility for.”

Montgomery also wanted to clarify that he did not say Bennett’s hit was dirty.

But…

“I just thought it was outside the lines,’’ Montgomery said. “I think it’s someone that plays the game on the edge. And he knew what he was doing. I don’t know if you’ve seen the picture from behind. But there’s clearly… he loaded up.”

Montgomery did not give an answer on whether the injury Marchand sustained was a concussion when pressed on it by the Boston media.

Montgomery has been stewing over the matter for the past couple of days, calling out Bennett for ’punching’ Marchand and insinuating that it was intentional.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice sees it differently.

No, no,” Maurice said Saturday. “I don’t think most of you would have either. It was just a collision. In a perfect world, everyone has everyone healthy. No one likes seeing anyone get hurt.”

That was where the discussion stopped on that play in the Florida room, and the focus shifted to taking a 3-1 series lead over the Bruins on Sunday.

”We’re only thinking about the game,” captain Sasha Barkov said. “We don’t think about the score of the series. All we want to do is come ready to play right from the start and right from the first shift. That’s our goal.”

If the Bruins do try anything to up the ante physically, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done it this series.

Marchand and Charlie Coyle both tried to fight Barkov off the opening face-off in Game 3 and he just shrugged it off.

“I don’t know,” Barkov said of the incident and Boston’s antics to try to get under their skin.

“Of course, for both teams, in the playoffs it’s a tight game, a tight battle. Everyone is trying to do their best to get under your skin and play as hard as possible.”

Panthers-Bruins Game 4 Notes

Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Panthers while the rest of the Florida lineup will also remain the same as Game 3, per coach Paul Maurice.

Montgomery did not name a starting goalie during his pre-game media availability. Linus Ullmark took the ice for their morning skate while Jeremy Swayman did not.

Florida will roll out the same lineup for Game 4; Boston, obviously, is changing some things up.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1) V. BOSTON BRUINS (ATL2)

FLORIDA LEADS BEST-OF-7 SERIES TIED 2-1

GAME 4 

• When: Sunday, 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Boston Garden 
• National TV: TBS
• Streaming: HBO Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Local Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-150); Puck line (-1.5, +170); Over/Under 5.5 (+100/-120). Series Florida -425
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Bruins 5, Panthers 1; Game 2: Panthers 6, Bruins 1; Game 3: Panthers 6, Bruins 2; Game 4: Sunday at Boston, 6:30 (TBS); Game 5: Tuesday at Florida, 7 (ESPN); Game 6*:Friday May 17 at Boston, TBA; Game 7*: Sunday May 19 at Florida TBA. (*) – If Necessary 
• How They Got Here: Florida d. Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1; Boston d. Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3
• Florida’s First Round — Game 1: Panthers 3, Tampa Bay 2; Game 2: Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2 OT; Game 3: Panthers 5, Tampa Bay 3; Game 4: Tampa Bay 6, Panthers 3; Game 5: Panthers 6, Tampa Bay 1.
• Last Season vs. Boston — Regular Season: Tied 2-2; Playoffs: Florida won 4-3 (first-round)
• This Season (Bruins 4-0) — At Boston: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Oct.30); Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Ap. 6). At Florida: Bruins 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 22); Bruins 4, Panthers 3 (March 26).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 64-37-7, 6 ties
• All-time Postseason Series: Florida leads 2-0 (1996 1st, 2023 1st)

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (2-1) LINES

10 Vladimir Tarasenko // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

23 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 17 Evan Rodrigues 

18 Steven Lorentz // 82 Kevin Stenlund // 8 Kyle Okposo

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola //  62 Brandon Montour

91 Oliver Ekman-Larsson // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

41 Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, Tobias Bjornfot, Uvis Balinskis, Josh Mahura, Jonah Gadjovich, Spencer Knight, Rasmus Asplund, Mike Benning, Magnus Hellberg, Matt Kiersted, Will Lockwood, Mackie Samoskevich, Justin Sourdif, Patrick Giles

Injured: Sam Bennett (upper body)

PROJECTED BOSTON BRUINS (1-2) LINES

74 Jake DeBrusk // 39 Morgan Geekie // 88 David Pastrnak

43 Danton Heinen // 13 Charlie Coyle// 11 Trent Frederic

21 James van Riemsdyk // 18 Pavel Zacha // 55 Justin Brazeau

94 Jakub Lauko // 19 John Beecher // 61 Pat Maroon

6 Mason Lohrei // 73 Charlie McAvoy

27 Hampus Lindholm // 25 Brandon Carlo

28 Derek Forbort // 52 Andrew Peeke

1 Jeremy Swayman

35 Linus Ullmark

Scratched: Matt Grzelcyk, Parker Wotherspoon, Kevin Shattenkirk, Jesper Boqvist, Michael DiPietro

Injured: Brad Marchand (concussion)

Boston Bruins Lines Courtesy NHL.Com