B's start 2 day tour of Florida retirement communities tonight vs. Panthers

The Bruins are in Sunrise, FL to take on the surprisingly competitive Florida Panthers tonight at the BankAtlantic Center. The Bruins will look for back to back wins after ending a 4 game skid on Tuesday night by downing the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1. The Panthers are looking to bounce back from a 4-0 home loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.

Just who are these Panthers you speak of?
Florida Panthers 29-21-8; 66 pts (2nd in Southeast, 7th in East)

Leading Scorers

'08-'09 Season Series
11/21 vs. FLA 4-2 W
12/6 @ FLA 4-0 W

Injury Report

Boston
LW Marco Sturm: IR (Knee)
RW Michael Ryder: IR (Face)
F Petteri Nokelainen: Out (Eye)

Florida
D Bryan Allen: IR (Knee)
C Rostislav Olesz: Out (Sports Hernia)

Notes:

- Tomas Vokoun was the first goaltender off the ice for the Panthers this morning during morning skate. He will likely be the starter tonight for Florida. Tim Thomas was the first off the ice for the Bruins.

- This is a much better Florida Panthers team than the one the Bruins saw earlier in the year. The Panthers are currently in 7th place in the Eastern Conference and battling to stay in the playoff picture. Since New Year, the Panthers have been one of the NHL's hottest teams, going 13-5-3 in 2009.

- When Andrew Ference steps on the ice tonight, he will be playing in his 500th NHL game.

- The Panthers are expected a sell-out crowd tonight at the BankAtlantic Center. I would think that there would be quite a few New England snowbirds in attendance tonight.

- When the B's and Panthers met in November, Milan Lucic put a pretty good beatdown on former Bruin Nick Boynton:

- For more on the Florida Panthers, check out Litter Box Cats

- Open thread starts at 6:00, game starts at 7:00

Today's Obligatory Embarassing Hilarious YouTube Fan Announcer Video
You have probably all seen this by now, but I think it deserves another look.