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Preview: Bruins look to correct mistakes as series shifts to Florida

Fewer turnovers, to start.

NHL: APR 19 Eastern Conference First Round - Panthers at Bruins Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:30 PM

Where: FLA Live Arena - Sunrise, FL

How to follow: TNT, NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Know your enemy

  • Matthew Tkachuk: 1G-2A-3PTS; Brendan Montour: 2G-0A-2PTS; Nick Cousins: 0G-2A-2PTS
  • Alex Lyon: 1-1-0, .909 save percentage, 3.07 GAA

Game notes

  • The Bruins-Panthers first-round series shifts to a new venue, giving the Panthers a chance to feed off their home crowd and their resounding Game 2 win. Ideally, the Bruins got all of their goofy mistakes out of their system in Game 2 and are prepared to play a more sound brand of hockey. Ideally.
  • The B’s lost both of their games at FLA Live Arena during the regular season: a 5-2 regulation loss in November and a 4-3 overtime loss in January.
  • For the B’s, the gameplan is relatively simple: take better care of the puck and get back to the kind of hockey that was so effective for you in the regular season. The turnovers, branded “catastrophic” by Jim Montgomery after Game 2, can’t continue, or this will be an ugly trip.
  • Montgomery has plenty of roster decisions to make after Game 2. Does Matt Grzelcyk finally draw in, and at whose expense? Will there be a shake-up in the bottom six? Wing changes in the top six? Time will tell.
  • The Patrice Bergeron Mystery continues, as the team hasn’t officially ruled him in or out for Game 3, nor has it officially confirmed if he even traveled to Florida. At least as of Thursday night, it sure looks like he won’t be available for Friday’s game.
  • With that in mind, the Bruins recalled Oskar Steen on an emergency basis on Thursday. Maybe he can use his Quads of Doom to strike fear in the heart of the Panthers.
  • Something random I noticed in Game 2: David Krejci seemed to get tossed out of every face-off he found himself in. He finished the game with a 42% win rate, but I’d be curious how many he lined up for vs. how many he actually took.
  • While they’ve played some effective possession hockey at times and have created some good chances, tonight would be a good night for the third line to finally break through on the scoresheet.

See ya tonight!