GameDay 52: Lines, Betting Odds for Bruins at Panthers

SUNRISE — With Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight still out of the Florida Panthers lineup due to injury, it appears Alex Lyon will get yet another start tonight against the visiting Boston Bruins.

Not only would this be Lyon’s fifth consecutive start — but his second set of back-to-backs as well.

Lyon is 2-2-1 since replacing Bobrovsky due to a lower-body injury during the first period of Florida’s game in Montreal on Jan. 19.

Coach Paul Maurice said that while both Bobrovsky and Knight have been practicing, with Knight even starting two games for Charlotte last weekend, neither is 100 percent and the Panthers are holding them out of the lineup for precaution.

Knight is listed as having an upper-body injury.

”We’re not putting them in and I don’t think being 100 percent is realistic because no one plays at 100 percent in the NHL,” Maurice said. “We are at a point where with seven days off, it does not make any sense to have another setback that pushes us beyond that.”

As for Lyon, he ended up giving three goals in Florida’s 4-3 loss to the Kings on Friday night.

Florida fell down 3-0 before rallying with a pair of goals late in the second.

After a rough seven-goal outing in Pittsburgh, Lyon was looking to bounce back and give the Panthers a chance against Los Angeles.

“As a goalie, you want to make a difference and stop one or two — or all of them — but I felt pretty solid in trying to give the team some predictability,” said Lyon, who had 29 saves. “I did not feel great last game so it was nice to get back in there and play again, that way I wasn’t sitting on that one.’’

This will be the Panthers final game before their All-Star break and they would like to head out on a high note.

Florida has lost its past three games and are going against the best team in the NHL this season.

But, the Panthers are 1-0 against the Bruins in Sunrise having won here back in November.

”This is the NHL and there are no nights off regardless of who you are playing,’’ Lyon said. “I just have to keep going, moving forward and try to give this team a chance to win. I am focusing on my game, trying to improve and get better, not overthink things too much.”

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

BOSTON BRUINS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
• Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• DraftKings Odds — Bruins favored: MoneyLine (-165); Puck line (-1.5, +155); Over/Under 6.5 (-120/+100)
• Season Series (Boston leads 2-1): @Boston 5, Florida 3 (Oct. 17); @Florida 5, Boston 2 (Nov. 23); @Boston 7, Florida 3 (Dec. 19)
• Last season: Boston won 2-1
  
• All-time regular season series: Boston leads 60-37-6, 6 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: NHL All-Star break; Feb. 6 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS LINEUP

15 Anton Lundell // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

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

94 Ryan Lomberg // 27 Eetu Luostarinen // 6 Colin White

21 Nick Cousins // 12 Eric Staal // 54 Givani Smith

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

18 Marc Staal // 62 Brandon Montour

28 Josh Mahura // 7 Radko Gudas

34 Alex Lyon

29 Mack Guzda

Injured: Anthony Duclair (LTIR-Achilles), Patric Hornqvist (LTIR-concussion), Sergei Bobrovsky (LBI), Spencer Knight (UBI)

Scratched: Casey Fitzgerald, Chris Tierney

Returned to Charlotte: Grigori Denisenko

PROJECTED BOSTON BRUINS LINEUP

63 Brad Marchand // 37 Patrice Bergeron // 71 Taylor Hall

18 Pavel Zacha // 46 David Krejci // 88 David Pastrnak

11 Trent Frederic // 13 Charlie Coyle // 12 Craig Smith

17 Nick Foligno // 45 Joona Koppanen // 10 A.J. Greer

48 Matt Grzelcyk // 73 Charlie McAvoy

27 Hampus Lindholm // 25 Brandon Carlo

28 Derek Forbort // 75 Connor Clifton

35 Linus Ullmark

1 Jeremy Swayman