Preview: Shorthanded Bruins look to take control in Game 4

Just the facts

When: Today, 3:30 PM

Where: FLA Live Arena - Sunrise, FL

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

Know your enemy

• Matthew Tkachuk: 1G-2A-3PTS; Brandon Montour: 2G-0A-2PTS; Eetu Luostarinen: 1G-1A-2PTS; five others with 2PTS
• Alex Lyon: 1-2-0, .902 save percentage, 3.26 GAA

Game notes

• Every game in a seven-game series is a big one, but Game 4’s are particularly large: the Bruins will head home with either a chance to close out the series or facing a best-of-three to decide the first round.
• David Krejci is officially “questionable” for today’s game, which means you can probably bet on him not playing. Patrice Bergeron remains out, though Jim Montgomery noted today that he’s still on track to be probable for Game 5.
• The Panthers have some injury concerns of their own, as Aaron Ekblad left Game 3 after trying and failing to lay out Charlie McAvoy. However, per George Richards, Ekblad was a full participant in practice on Saturday.
• Both teams are heading into today’s game with question marks in net, though for different reasons. Alex Lyon was pulled from Friday’s game after allowing three goals, and one can’t help but wonder if Paul Maurice will give Sergei Bobrovsky the start today. For the Bruins, it seems like Montgomery and Co. are leaning towards giving Jeremy Swayman the start, but that remains to be seen.
• It’s kind of hard to come up with new preview content four games into a series — you know who the Panthers are, you know what the Bruins need to do (please stop turning the puck over)...thank you for reading this hard-hitting analysis.
• This is kind of a dumb point (see the bullet above about coming up with new points), but the Bruins should really come out just throwing pucks on net in this game. Florida looks like a team just waiting for its goaltending to falter, and a quick goal could have things snowball.
• If you’re a general Boston sports fan, you’ve got the ideal scenario today: Bruins at 3:30, then enough time to have some dinner, then the Celtics play at 7. We will not discuss the cheap baseball team at this time.

See ya tonight!