While the Boston Bruins were home resting following a tough road trip, the Florida Panthers took the ice at the TD Garden for practice. They haven't played since a 3-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon in Western New York. Florida was in Boston on Sunday, and former captain Brad Marchand caught up with some old friends.
Marchand told the assembled media on Monday that he caught up with Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask, and Adam McQuaid on Sunday for dinner.
“A bunch of old guys sitting together reminiscing.”
As for playing his old team for the first time since being traded last March at the trade deadline, it'll be emotional for Marchand.
“There’s been enough moments that I went through, and didn’t take in enough or didn’t appreciate. This is one I will make sure that I do,'' Marchand said.
Frustrating road trip finally ends
It was a bad three-game trip for the Bruins. They were outscored 13-8 by the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Utah Mammoth. Now returning home to face the Panthers, it'll be a battle of two teams on four-game losing streaks looking to end somehow, either in regulation, overtime, or a shootout.
“We’re in all of these games, right? I think there are positives to be had. It was just a tough trip,” defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. “We have a great group in here, which, first and foremost, is what we need. We’re tight. We’re not going to splinter. We are going to get back on the horse on Tuesday.'”
Easier said than done. If they are going to, they will need to change some things, including staying out of the penalty box, something they were unable to do on the road trip.
“Obviously, tough result at the end. Took too many penalties,” Pastrnak said after the Utah loss. “We came up one short. Overall, 5-on-5, I thought actually our game was pretty good. Much better than the previous games on the road trip.”
Casey Mittlestadt scratched
The first questionable scratch of the season happened on Sunday night when Marco Sturm scratched Casey Mittlestadt against the Mammoth. Marat Khusnutdinov slotted in and had a bad defensive zone turnover that led to the game-winning third-period goal.
Whether it was Sturm sending Mittlestadt a message or whatever, the Bruins need a big response from Mittlestadt against Florida on Tuesday night.