It's safe to say that the Boston Bruins face a must-win Game 4 against the Florida Panthers on Sunday night at the TD Garden in their second-round series. The last two games have been a clinic for the Panthers who rebounded from a Game 1 loss to score six goals in the last two games while allowing just three in jumping out to a 2-1 series lead.
Through the first two games, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery has switched around his pairing son defense with some players getting healthy that were not available for the first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which the Black and Gold won in seven games.
Boston has had trouble in the defensive zone in both series and it seems like against the Panthers, it's been getting worse in the last two games. Montgomery has a number of options he can go with in Game 4, but these six should be the options and gives them the best chance to win a game that is a must-win before facing elimination going back to Florida for Game 5 Tuesday night.
Six best defensemen options for the Boston Bruins in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers
First and foremost, it will be stunning once the season ends if some players are not playing through injuries that are hampering their performance. Case in point, if Charlie McAvoy is not injured, then it should be very concerning the way he has looked this postseason. Here are the six defensemen that should dress for Boston in Game 4,
- Charlie McAvoy-Mason Lohrei
- Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo
- Andrew Peeke-Kevin Shattenkirk
Lohrei has arguably been the best defenseman in the playoffs for the Bruins and he looks like a star in the making with his ability to defend and his puck-moving has been on point. You're going to get what you're going to get from Lindholm and Carlo has been steady. Peeke played well in Game 3 returning from his injury and Shattenkirk has fallen out of the rotation, similar to Matt Grzelcyk last postseason.
As for the pairings, they can be mixed and matched, but these are the six that give the Bruins the best chance to even the series and make it a best of three going back to South Florida.