{"id":464518,"date":"2025-03-11T08:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T12:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=464518"},"modified":"2025-03-11T05:22:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T09:22:16","slug":"nhl-predictions-march-11th-florida-panthers-boston-bruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/03\/11\/nhl-predictions-march-11th-florida-panthers-boston-bruins\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: March 11th Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions<\/a>! Every day, Last Word on Hockey\u00a0<\/em>provides insights and analysis to predict the outcome of the games on the NHL schedule. Today, we will examine the matchup between the Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins.\u00a0Be sure to check out all of our NHL Predictions<\/em> as the 2024-25 season approaches the playoff race.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

2024-25 Head-to-Head: Panthers 2-1 Bruins<\/em><\/h4>\n

Time:<\/strong> 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong> NESN; SN; ESPN+<\/p>\n

The Bruins (29-28-8) play host to the Panthers (40-21-3) Tuesday night at TD Garden in a highly anticipated matchup between two heated rivals. This game will be the fourth and final meeting between these two Atlantic division clubs. Florida leads the season series 2-1, winning the first two games in October, while Boston won their last meeting in January. The Bruins are entering a new phase as an organization, while the Panthers remain Stanley Cup contenders. Although he is out with an injury, Brad Marchand<\/a> returns to Boston just four days after being dealt to Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Next Man Up Mentality for Florida<\/h3>\n

On Monday, March 10th, Panthers defenceman Aaron Ekblad<\/a> was suspended 20 games for violating the NHL’s terms of performance enhancing substance program<\/a>. Tuesday’s meeting with the Bruins will be the Panthers first game after Ekblad’s suspension. They must get used to life without their former first overall pick as he will be out the remainder of the regular season. Luckily, Florida has the defensive depth to overcome the void that Ekblad will leave.<\/p>\n

Newly acquired blueliner, Seth Jones<\/a> will need to step into an ever bigger role. Since joining the Panthers, Jones has averaged 21:03 of time-on-ice per game. Expect the 30-year-old to receive Ekblad’s minutes moving forward. Although they’re severely shorthanded, the Bruins are a great test for Jones to jump into a bigger role. Additionally, Gustav Forsling<\/a> will need to continue to lead the Florida blueline, starting in Boston, as they try to take two points from the Bruins.<\/p>\n

Florida has had a tremendous amount of success against Boston as of late. The Cats<\/em> have knocked out the B’s<\/em> out of the playoffs in heartbreaking fashion the last two years. Every game between these two in recent years has been a playoff like atmosphere. With Matthew Tkachuk<\/a> out, Sam Bennett<\/a> will have to lead the Panthers heavy forecheck on Boston’s depleted d-core. This game will be a big test for the now shorthanded Panthers as they get used to life without Ekblad and Tkachuk.<\/p>\n

Bruins Should Make it Personal<\/h3>\n

The Boston Bruins are currently fighting for their playoff lives. Although their recent transactions may seem like they have thrown in the white towel, the players have no plans on giving up. Tuesday’s matchup is a terrific time for the B’s<\/em> to start an unexpected push for the playoffs. The Bruins currently sit four points out of the second wild card spot. After two consecutive strong games, another solid 6o-minute effort against the defending champions would go a long way. Especially if two points come with it.<\/p>\n

Given their recent post-season blunders against the Panthers, the Bruins have grown a hatred for the Sunshine State<\/em>. If the past few years weren’t enough, the Panthers stealing the Bruins captain should be enough for the team to be fired up ahead of this meeting. Despite Marchand being out with an injury, Boston should take this one personal by matching Florida’s physicality and work ethic. Even if playoffs are too far out of reach, stealing a win from the team that has had your number will build confidence of the new era of Bruins hockey.<\/p>\n

The Black and Gold’s<\/em> newest additions all had strong debuts in their 4-0 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday. Casey Mittelstadt<\/a>, Henri Jokiharju<\/a>, Jakub Lauko<\/a>, and Marat Khusnutdinov<\/a> were all effective in their first time donning the spoked B<\/em>. For the Bruins to come away with an enormous victory, another strong effort is needed from the new arrivals. For Boston to have a realistic shot at the postseason, they need to win at least 12 of their final 17 games, which would give them 90 points. A win on Tuesday gives them a great start towards reaching that number.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h3>\n

Although the Bruins are still without Charlie McAvoy<\/a> and Hampus Lindholm<\/a>, the Bruins d-core has remained steady. They will need to continue to be just that as they face a fierce Florida forecheck. Boston should be treating this one like a playoff game for a multitude of reasons. Florida will have to get used to playing without Ekblad after the shocking development. Led by David Pastrnak<\/a>, the Bruins determination may be too much for Florida to handle on the road.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Bruins Win 3-1<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bets of the Night:<\/h3>\n

Although he has remained on the score sheet, Pastrnak has not scored since March 1st. As a +105 anytime goal scorer, expect Pasta to break that slump and find the back of the net in his second game as the Bruins new leader. As for the Panthers, Sam Reinhart<\/a> is a +150 score. Reinhart has five goals in his last three games against the Bruins. Boston is a +175 underdog at home.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling\u00a0problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions! Every day, Last Word on Hockey\u00a0provides insights and analysis to predict the outcome of the games on the NHL schedule. Today, we will examine the matchup between the Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins.\u00a0Be sure to check out all of our NHL Predictions as the 2024-25 season approaches the playoff […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5463,"featured_media":440907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,4547,4548,4524],"tags":[346,6081,450,927,762,6255,1613,701],"class_list":["post-464518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bruins","category-panthers","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-aaron-ekblad","tag-boston-bruins-predictions","tag-brad-marchand","tag-casey-mittelstadt","tag-david-pastrnak","tag-florida-panthers-predictions","tag-henri-jokiharju","tag-matthew-tkachuk"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5463"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464518"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464547,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464518\/revisions\/464547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}