Sam Bennett, Panthers look to topple Bruins again

Six days after their season-opening meeting in Sunrise, Fla., the Boston Bruins host the Florida Panthers in a Monday matinee resumption of their building Atlantic Division rivalry.

The Panthers lost all four regular-season meetings between the teams in 2023-24 before their six-game playoff series win in the second round eliminated the Bruins for a second consecutive season.

Florida gained the upper hand to start this season thanks to Sam Bennett, who scored twice during his team's four-goal first period. The Panthers went on to a 6-4 victory last Tuesday.

"I think there's a bit of a rivalry there and it's continuously growing," Florida forward Evan Rodrigues said after last week's meeting. "They play hard. They're well coached. They're structured. They play the game the right way. I think you have two teams battling it out."

However, the teams have gone in opposite directions since the lidlifter, with the Bruins logging their first two victories and the Panthers dropping two straight games.

Coach Jim Montgomery admits his Bruins "haven't played a full 60-minute game yet," but there were positive developments in a 2-1 overtime win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

Sure, David Pastrnak netted the game-winner for his third goal in as many contests. On a different front, Matt Poitras returned to the lineup for the first time since he underwent shoulder surgery in February. He also missed the first two games of this season with an undisclosed injury.

"I thought that's the best game he's played as an NHL player, including some two-goal games last year," Montgomery said of the 20-year-old Poitras. "For his first game back, it was special. ... You saw the strength in his skating through the whole shift, that's a significant difference from last year."

Poitras made his season debut at center, assisting on the winning goal and going 3-for-3 on faceoffs.

The effort impressed Pastrnak, who joins newcomers Elias Lindholm and Mark Kastelic and defenseman Charlie McAvoy as Boston's multi-goal scorers thus far this season.

"Obviously, hadn't played a meaningful game for a long time. ... It's never easy to be injured, so we're happy he's back," Pastrnak said. "It's incredible how strong on the puck he is for his size."

A strong bottom-six group, which also includes newcomer Kastelic as the fourth-line pivot, also has been key to the team's early-season development.

"It's nice to have," Montgomery said. "What people have determined (on Saturday) is our bottom six carried us and gave us the opportunity, besides (Jeremy) Swayman in the nets, to stay in the game and then cash in."

The Panthers, who had the best Eastern Conference road record at 26-11-4 last season, were unable to overcome missing both captain Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness) in a 5-2 loss at Buffalo on Saturday.

"We've won a bunch of hockey games in the past without them in our lineup," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "We have to play a style that will allow that to happen. I think we were at that in our first two (games), but we weren't (on Saturday)."

Nate Schmidt opened the scoring on Saturday with his first goal for the Panthers. Bennett later added his team-leading third of the season.

Saturday also marked Spencer Knight's first NHL start since leaving the Panthers to join the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in February 2023. He made 22 saves.

"It's a long season, a long career, hopefully," Knight said. "You just kind of stick with it. You go over the good and the bad, move on and then just keep battling."

The Panthers are confident that Barkov, the reigning Selke Trophy winner, can return for the NHL Global Series in his native Finland to begin November.

Knight's fellow Boston College grad Patrick Giles was recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League to make his NHL debut on Saturday.