FHN Today: Boston Bruins now third in Atlantic after beating Lightning

For much of this season, the Florida Panthers have been jockeying for position in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. Don’t look now, but here come the Boston Bruins.

On Thursday night — as the Panthers were taking care of the Canadiens in Montreal — the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-2 to take over third place in the division.

With the loss, Tampa Bay slides into one of the two wild card spots.

There are still a lot of games left to play, but if this holds … the Panthers could get a rematch with the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs.

We thought that could happen if the two teams finished second and third in the Atlantic — but not if Florida won the division.

Anyway, Boston got itself a nice win as David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick.

PANTHERLAND

The Florida Panthers saw immediate dividends from the new guys as the three additions to the lineup all hit the scoresheet in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Canadiens.

— Ben Chiarot’s debut with the Panthers just happened to come against his former team. After not playing for 11 days, he got into the game pretty quickly.

— Claude Giroux said he was excited about playing his first game with the Panthers — and he ended up with a pair of assists. Nice start.

— The view from the Montreal Canadiens side of things…

— Check out the postgame video from Chiarot, Anthony Duclair and Andrew Brunette following Thursday night’s win in Montreal on the FHN YouTube page RIGHT HERE.

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AROUND THE NHL

So, Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.

Wasn’t he traded to Anaheim?

What went down in the deal that the NHL put the kabosh on Monday’s trade.

— Scary moment in Vegas last night as Nick Howden left the ice on a stretcher.

— Keeping it in Vegas: After getting shut out in its past two games, the Knights found their offense against Nashville.

— Joonas Korpisalo needs surgery and his Blue Jackets career may be done.

— Speaking of the Canadiens: If Montreal tries to move Carey Price and his contract again, will he waive his no-movement clause a second time?

— Anything is possible, especially when it comes to the NHL playoffs — in the west, at least. Can the Vancouver Canucks make it?

— Apparently, the NHL general managers are going to be talking about instituting a ‘Kucherov Rule’ to make the salary cap carry over into the playoffs.

— The New York Islanders signed Cal Clutterbuck to an extension — and now he is out for the season.

— Taking a look at where Rickard Rakell fits with the Penguins.

UP NEXT FOR THE FLORIDA PANTHERS 

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT OTTAWA SENATORS

• When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Canadian Tire Center, Ottawa  
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM/SiriusXM
• Last season: Did not play
  
• All-time regular season series: Ottawa leads 56-41-4, ties
• This season — Tied 1-1: Ottawa 8, @Florida 2 (Dec. 14); @Florida 3, Ottawa 0 (March 3)