BOSTON – The Florida Panthers will look to continue their success against the Boston Bruins when the puck drops for an afternoon tilt on Monday at 1:00 PM ET at TD Garden.

In addition to opening their season with a convincing 6-4 win over the Bruins in Sunrise on Tuesday, the Panthers have won a whopping six straight playoff games at TD Garden.

Although this is only the fourth game of the regular season, the intensity should be high.

“These are the games I would pay to see,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “Really intense, really physical, a lot of attacking skills, great goalkeeping and a lot of intensity. It is fun to be behind the bench, because the game is played at the right level.”

At 1-2-0, the Panthers have dropped each of the first two games during their four-game road swing, including a 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabers at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Taking the ice without two of their best forwards – Aleksander Barkov (upper body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness) – the Panthers struggled to reach their usual high level.

After Nate Schmidt scored in the first period to make it 1-0 thanks to an impressive pass from AJ Greer and Jesper Boqvist, the Panthers gave up four straight goals. Spencer Knight made his first NHL start since Feb. 18, 2023, finishing with 22 saves.

Florida lost the battle around the net and trailed 16-5 in dangerous shot attempts.

With Barkov already set to miss two to three weeks, Tkachuk is expected to be out of the lineup until the Panthers’ game against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 22 in Sunrise.

“We’ve won some hockey games in the past without them in our lineup,” Maurice said after the loss to the Sabres. “We have to play a style of game that makes that possible. I think we were there in our first two games, but not tonight.”

After their season-opening loss to the Panthers, the Bruins have posted wins in each of their last two games and improved to 2-1-0. In their most recent outing, David Pastrnak scored the winning goal in a 2-1 overtime win over the Kings on Saturday.

In each of the team’s wins, Jeremy Swayman has posted a .914 save percentage.

Elias Lindholm, who fit in seamlessly with Boston’s top line this offseason, leads the team in scoring with five points (two goals, three assists). Not far behind is Pastrnak, his linemate, second in points (4) and first in goals (3).

With Barkov and Tkachuk both unavailable against the Bruins, the Panthers will field 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second straight game. Making some adjustments will give defenseman Uvis Balinskis some shifts as a forward, according to Maurice.

Sergei Bobrovsky gets the nod for the Panthers.

“We have what we need in this room,” Schmidt said. “It sucks not to have two of your best players, but you know what’s already in here. Now it’s time for the boys to catch up. Those are guys that are irreplaceable, but we have the guys that can go out there and replicate.

They said it

“What I really liked is that he (Patrick Giles) was 3-1 on faceoffs for a guy who isn’t a center. Maybe we have a gem there. We played his first NHL game, put him at center ice and I thought he handled it really well.” – Paul Maurits

“You might as well throw yourself into it (adversity) early because it’s going to come all year long. Might as well finish it and hope this is the only thing you run into. – Nate Schmidt

FIVE CATS STATISTICS

– Sam Reinhart is expected to skate in his 700^e NHL game.

– Gustav Forsling has a team-leading +5 plus/minus rating.

– Sam Bennett has a point in three straight games to start the season.

– Sergei Bobrovsky has won five straight playoff games at TD Garden.

– The Panthers tied for first in the NHL in road wins (26) in 2023-24.

PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Come on

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues

AJ Greer – Jesper Boqvist – Mackie Samoskevich

Jonah Gadjovich – Patrick Giles – Uvis Balinskis

Defenders

Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Dmitri Kulikov

Nate Schmidt – Adam Boqvist

Goalkeepers

Sergei Bobrovsky

Spencer Knight

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

– October 11: F Patrick Giles recalled to Florida

– October 9: F MacKenzie Entwistle and G Chris Driedger assigned to Charlotte (AHL) | G Spencer Knight recalled to Florida

– October 8: Carter Verhaeghe signed an eight-year contract extension with effect from 2025-2026.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

When: Monday, October 14 at 1:00 PM ET

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

TV and streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (out of market)

Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers App; SiriusXM app and streaming 931

Cats on tap: Click to view participating bars and restaurants