Since it falls on a Friday, which almost never happens, and it's the day before Christmas Eve, I feel like tonight's Boston Bruins game against the Florida Panthers isn't getting the proper attention that it deserves.
Both teams come into TD Garden in first place in their respective divisions; the Bruins (22-9-1) have won five straight and lead the Northeast Division by a fair margin. The Panthers (18-10-7) were actually the last team to beat Boston, 2-0 on December 8 at the Garden. Florida leads the Southeast Division and they continue to make believers around the NHL.
Tuukka Rask gets the start for the B's, against former Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore. This is Boston's first game since Monday a 3-2 win over the Canadiens at the Garden while the Panthers have played and lost two games in that span: losing 2-1 on Tuesday in Phoenix and 4-3 in a shootout last night in Ottawa. Common sense says that the Bruins should have fresher legs.
This is the second of four meetings between these two quality teams with the second two in the Sunshine State. I know it's early but dare I say this could be a playoff preview? The Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals are both a mess so I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the Panthers win the Southeast this season.
Rich Peverley is out of the lineup tonight with an undisclosed injury but that is tempered a bit since Milan Lucic returns after serving his one-game suspension on Monday vs. Montreal.
Florida's top line center Stephen Weiss is out after sustaining an upper-body injury last night.
This is Boston's last home game in 2011, crazy right? It's also their last game before Christmas. After this, they go to Phoenix on Wednesday for the start of a three-game trip which carries over into 2012. The B's are back in the Garden on January 5 vs. Calgary.
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