The Florida Panthers survived Tuesday night as they barely held on against the Nashville Predators to win 2-1. The Preds scored with 0.3 seconds left in the third to tie the game, only to have it called back for goalie interference. Whether or not it was the right call is a topic for Eklund's post following the game. For the Panthers, it allows them to survive another day. Philadelphia's loss, coupled with a New Jersey and Columbus win, means that a Florida regulation loss plus any point gained by the Flyers is complete elimination.

This brings us to Thursday's game against the Boston Bruins in Sunrise, FL. In what will be game 1000 for future Hall of Fame goaltender Roberto Luongo, will be one of the most important regular season starts of the veteran netminder's career. The teams split the first two games of the season. Florida won on on March 15 3-0 off a James Reimer shutout, and Boston won 5-1 just six days ago with Reimer in net again.

The B's have yet to see Luongo this season and if he comes out playing the way he did against Nashville, the Panthers have a great opportunity to continue winning. The 39-year-old goaltender made 45 saves and saw the puck well, not allowing many second opportunities for the Predators high-flying offense. He'll need to continue controlling rebounds against the Bruins, especially since they're one of the better teams in the league down low.

The Cats will no doubt continue to rely upon Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck but Evgeny Dadonov has six points in six games and has been creating offense all over the ice. His speed has defenders over-playing him on a regular basis and he's opening up shooting lanes by himself.

He arguably been the best free agent signing of the 2017 off-season. He's got 62 points in 71 games on the year and is close to 30 goals. The only player comparable would be Alex Radulov in Dallas who has 68 points in 80 games.

Can Florida get enough offense outside Barkov & Trocheck to defeat the Bruins? Would love to hear your thoughts on what's in store for the Panthers tonight!

Join the Discussion: » 15 Comments » Post New Comment

» Florida Panthers first round predictions

» Florida Panthers Trading Partners (New York Islanders)

» Florida Panthers Trading Partners (Edmonton Oilers)

» Florida Panthers Trading Partners (New York Rangers)

» Florida Panthers Trading Partners (Chicago Blackhawks)