Cats and Bears Part Deux (Florida)

The Cats look to stay hot and extend their winning streak to 9-0-0 this evening when they face off against the Bruins for the second time this week.

Both teams will honor the late Jimmy Hayes by wearing special “BROADWAY… and “HAYESY… jerseys during warmups.

Florida had an exciting (scary) OT win over the Wings in their last game to help interim coach Andrew Brunnette break into his new role. I told you guys those Wings are a tough team…

The Cats toppled Boston 4-1 on Wednesday when the two teams clashed. They should look to bring that same confidence and game to Bean Town tonight.

It’s looking like a recall is happening. Brunnette is expected to give an injury update shortly…

From the Panthers website:

“With the Panthers outscoring their opponents 34-15 through the first eight games of the season, Huberdeau leads the team in scoring with 10 points (three goals, seven assists), Barkov sits in second with nine (four goals, five assists), and four other players are tied for third with seven.

One of the deepest teams in the league, 11 different Panthers have tallied at least five points.

However, possibly even more impressive than that work on offensive side of the puck, has been the team's execution on the penalty kill as of late. Tied for seventh in the league with an 89.7% success rate, the Panthers have gone 19-for-20 on the penalty kill over their last six contests.

"It's been great," Weegar said of the team's shorthanded excellence. "We're all on the same page. We know where our points are and when to pressure, when to not pressure. Bob has been our best killer back there. Having him play his game right now, he's been solid for us."

With the Panthers not skating this morning in Boston, exact details on tonight's lineup won't be known until Interim Head Coach Andrew Brunette speaks to the media at 4:45 p.m. With that being said, there are a few important things to keep a close eye on heading into the matchup.

Given the nature of back-to-backs, there's a chance that rookie goaltender Spencer Knight will give Bobrovsky a night off and get the nod in net. In what would be a fun homecoming, Knight, who grew up in Darien, Connecticut, played two seasons at Boston College before turning pro.

In two starts this season, the 20-year-old rookie has gone 2-0-0 on top of a 2.01 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. Dating back to his debut late last season, he owns a 6-0-0 career record, which is tied for the fourth-longest winning streak to start a career in NHL history.

On the injury front, rookie center Anton Lundell (upper body) has yet to return to the ice as of Friday's morning skate, while second-line center Sam Bennett missed the end of yesterday's win after crashing into Detroit's net and then taking a spill along the end boards. Additionally, defenseman Kevin Connauton was a game-time decision yesterday, but ended up sitting out.

Looking across the ice at the opposition, the Bruins enter tonight's matchup sitting at 3-3-0 on the season after dropping each of their last two games. After losing 4-1 against the Panthers in Sunrise on Wednesday, they were then shut out by the Hurricanes 3-0 in Raleigh on Thursday.

In that aforementioned meeting in South Florida, Charlie Coyle scored the lone goal for Boston, while Luostarinen, Mason Marchment, Anthony Duclair and Owen Tippett scored for the Cats.

"It's a couple games in a row we haven't been able to generate much," Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said of the mini-slump after the loss to Carolina. "Obviously, we've got to look at that."

Averaging just 2.50 goals per game through six games, Brad Marchand leads Boston in scoring with seven points (four goals, three assists). After him, David Pastrnak is second with five points (two goals, three assists), while Coyle ranks third with four points (two goals, two assists).

In net, Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have each started three games. Ullmark is 2-1-0 with a .920 save percentage, while Swayman has gone 1-2-0 with a .893 save percentage. After Swayman started Boston's first two games, Ullmark has gotten the nod in three of the last four.

Dating back to last season, the Panthers have won 14 straight regular-season games.…

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Let’s make it nine! Time to hunt…Go Panthers!

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