2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

At least in the Eastern Conference, the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs is finally complete. The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs needed Game 7 to decide their series. Every other series in the Eastern Conference just needed five games. But the final matchup was set after the Bruins won on Saturday night.

Before the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins got underway, the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes got their second-round series underway. The Rangers took Game 1 by a score of 4-3. The East will be at least two games deep in one series before the West gets underway. But that is for another time.

Let’s Dive into the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Series Preview between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.

2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Preview

Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins

It is a rematch from the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Boston Bruins will take on the Florida Panthers. Florida needed five games to advance to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games thanks to David Pastrnak‘s overtime series-clinching goal.

We know what happened last year when the Panthers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins in overtime of Game 7. That win propelled them to the Stanley Cup Final. Revenge will be on the minds of the Bruins. The Bruins took the regular season series 4-0, but that does not mean anything come playoff time, either.

But the Panthers, on paper, have a better team than the Bruins. However, momentum is on the Bruins’s side despite only having a day off between Game 7 of Round 1 and Game 1 of Round 2. We saw it last year with Florida and Toronto in Round 2; that short turnaround helped them in Game 1. Expect the same for Boston.

That short break helps the team come off the long series because they are in game mode. At the same time, the Panthers have been off for a week. It may take some time for them to find their legs. But as Matthew Tkachuk said, ‘We all kind of expected Boston.” You know this is going to be a physical battle.

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Again, the Panthers have more game-breakers like Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Mr. Playoff Carter Verhaeghe, and Aleksander Barkov. Verhaeghe led the Panthers with five goals in the first round. We know what Tkachuk and Verhaeghe did against the Bruins last year in the playoffs. However, Boston has game-breakers, too, with Pastrnak, Marchand, Jake DeBrusk, and Charlie McAvoy. Pastrnak found that spark from his head coach to get going.

Goaltending always determines the outcomes of these series. Jeremy Swayman is Boston’s number-one goalie. Head coach Jim Montgomery played the numbers with Swayman against the Maple Leafs. Does he do the same with Linus Ullmark? Ullmark went 3-0 with a 1.62 GAA and .947 save percentage against the Panthers in the regular season. Swayman did win his only game against Florida but gave up three goals on 21 shots. It’s interesting to see what happens there.

We know it will be Sergei Bobrovsky for Florida. He was spectacular for the Panthers in the first round. Bobrovsky stopped Marchand on a breakaway in Game 5 in Round 1 with one second left to save the Panthers’ season. He has found his form in the playoffs, which means he is a dangerous player.

Special teams are always a factor in the playoffs. This trend continues, as we saw in the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes series. Florida has a great power play, but Boston’s penalty kill is clicking. But were they tested in the Toronto series? We know Boston’s power play can score. Florida’s penalty kill did an excellent job against the Lighting.

The series will be decided here and in between the pipes. They have a chance if Boston plays as it did against Toronto with their smothering defence. However, this time, turnovers and casual play in the defensive zone will end up in the back of the next, unlike in the Toronto series.

This should be a fun series. Game 1 of the Second-Round Playoff Series between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers will be played Monday at 8 p.m.