Panthers v. Bruins Game 2 Morning Skate: No Bennett for Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE — Sam Bennett will remain out of the Florida Panthers lineup for Game 2 of their second-round series against the Boston Bruins.

But a return could be soon.

Just over two weeks since leaving Game 2 of the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a hand injury, Bennett is expected to join the team when the series shifts to Boston for Games 3 and 4.

“He didn’t skate today but he is not far off,” coach Paul Maurice said. “I expect him on the road trip.”

In the meantime, the Panthers are going to be rolling with the same lineup they lost Game 1 to Boston with.

That also means Ryan Lomberg remains out of the lineup but his absence has nothing to do with the illness which kept him out of the lineup since Game 2 of the Tampa series.

The fourth line of Nick Cousins, Steven Lorentz and Kyle Okposo has just made it hard for Maurice to make a move.

“He’s good to go,” Maurice said. “But I liked our fourth line. I like the way they played. There are concerns about other plays but those guys, their zone time was right, their physicality was right, they were good.

“It’s always the fourth line guys or the five-six guys that get kind of jacked in adn out when you’re looking for an adjustment. I got another guy that, Bennett, I think comes in for an adjustment for us at some point in Game 3 or 4  and we will make adjustments if we have to on health. But Ryan’s going to get back in, I really believe that.”

PANTHERS LEARN FROM MISTAKES

Looking at most of Boston’s goals, they have one key thing in common: Bad turnovers forced by a heavy Boston forecheck.

What needs to be done to remedy them?

“I think we need to get back to the puck a little bit quicker, talk a little bit more and work the simple stuff I would say — the stuff you can control,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said.

“They have players that are trying to break our breakouts down so we got to make sure that we find a way to break it out and help each other a little bit more in the defensive zone and help Sergei Bobrovsky out a little bit more. I thought we could do better in rent of our own net and their net too.”

— Bobrovsky will be back in net for the Panthers; Jeremy Swayman was first off the ice for the Bruins.

— The Bruins will have Jesper Boqvist back centering the fourth line after missing Game 1 with an illness. 

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

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

BOSTON LEADS BEST-OF-7 SERIES 1-0

GAME 2

• When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise 
• National TV: ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• 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 (-165); Puck line (-1.5, +150); Over/Under 5.5 (+100/-120). Series Florida -125
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Bruins 5, Panthers 1; Game 2: Wednesday at Florida, 7:30 (ESPN); Game 3: Friday at Boston, 7 (TNT); Game 4: Sunday, May 12 at Boston, 6:30 (TBS); Game 5*: Tuesday May 14 at Florida, TBA; 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 (0-1) LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 16 Sasha Barkov // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart

17 Evan Rodrigues // 82 Kevin Stenlund // 10 Vladimir Tarasenko

21 Nick Cousins // 18 Steven Lorentz // 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: 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 (1-0) LINES

18 Pavel Zacha // 39 Morgan Geekie // 88 David Pastrnak

63 Brad Marchand // 13 Charlie Coyle // 74 Jake DeBrusk

21 James van Riemsdyk // 11 Trent Frederic // 55 Justin Brazeau

19 John Beecher // 70 Jesper Boqvist // 61 Pat Maroon

6 Mason Lohrei // 73 Charlie McAvoy

27 Hampus Lindholm // 25 Brandon Carlo

28 Derek Forbort // 29 Parker Wotherspoon

1 Jeremy Swayman

35 Linus Ullmark

Scratched: Kevin Shattenkirk, Jakub Lauko, Michael DiPietro, Andrew Peeke, Matt Grzelcyk, Patrick Brown

Injured: Danton Heinen (undisclosed)

Boston Bruins Lines Courtesy NHL.Com