Florida, Solid Pick to Finish off Bruins In Five Games
After Winning Three Consecutive, Bruins vs Panthers Lines Favor Florida to Close Things Out

Plenty of Eyes Are On Injured Bruins Captain Brad Marchand Going Into Game 5
What a difference a year makes. In 2023, it was Boston that headed home up 3-1 against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now Florida finds itself in the same position going into Game 5. The Bruins vs Panthers lines favor Florida to close out its Atlantic Division rivals and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second season in a row.
As if anybody needed a reminder not to read too much into results during the NHL regular season, this series is Exhibit A. The Bruins won all four games during the regular season but it is Florida that is a win away from advancing. Three games in a row in this series had landed over the total before Game 4 went under the 5.5-goal total.
Florida is priced at -220 by the Vegas NHL odds to win Game 5. The Panthers haven’t been that heavy of a favorite at home against the Bruins since 2000. Boston has +180 odds to win on Tuesday and send the game back to Boston for Game 6.
First-line winger and Bruins captain Brad Marchand is making the trip to Florida after missing Game 4. If he is cleared to play, that could impact the odds in Game 5.
Coming into the series, there were +375 odds for the Panthers to close out the Bruins in five games and +400 odds for Boston to win Game 1 but Florida to win the series.
Bruins vs Panthers 
Records: Boston Bruins 47-20-15 (26-12-9) at Florida Panthers 52-24-6 (30-13-2 at home)
Location: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, FL
Day/Time: Streaming: ESPN
Bruins Backed Into a Corner
There is little question that some key calls have gone against the Bruins in this series and could have things a little different had the proper rulings been made. However, Boston has also been outshot 107-50 in the last three games and that can’t all be attributed to the officiating.
Boston has been out hustled and outmuscled and now needs to win three games in a row, two on the road to advance to the next round. One look at the Bruins vs Panthers lines is a perfect indication that seems unlikely.
The Bruins did win twice in Sunrise during the regular season but they were playing much better at the time of those games than they are right now as Boston was fortunate to get past Toronto in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
Thanks to a late-season slump, the Boston Bruins standings had them finish behind Florida and that means that they need to win twice on the road.
The total has gone under in 14 of Boston’s last 20 games.
Captain Delivering For the ‘Cats
While Boston’s captain Brad Marchand has been largely ineffective even before he was injured by a punch to the head by Florida forward Sam Bennett in this series, it has been a different story for Aleksandar Barkov.
Barkov, in his sixth season as the Panthers’ captain, not only has three goals in the series but two of them have been game-winning tallies. It was Barkov’s goal that completed a comeback from two goals down in Game 4 that has Florida on the verge of eliminating the Bruins from the playoffs for the second season in a row.
Barkov is the franchise leader in goals and points. He has already matched his career-high with five playoff goals in just nine games after scoring five times in 21 games a season ago. His strong two-way play is one reason why the Bruins vs Panthers lines favors host Florida.
Six of the last seven games for the Panthers have gone over the total.
Bruins vs Panthers Injury Update
The biggest news item will be the status of Marchand after he was knocked out of Game 3 and missed Game 4. He is questionable for Game 5.
Florida winger Ryan Lomberg continues to be idle due to illness.
Bruins vs Panthers Betting Preview
The hope for the Bruins is for this series to go the distance and the pressure to be on Florida to avoid squandering a 3-1 series lead in a Game 7 at home. Florida can play pressure-free in Game 5 since they have a margin for error to work with.
Florida has gotten much more from its top players than Boston has from its leaders and if that doesn’t change, this series could be over in five games.
Florida is 52-22-2 as a favorite this season while Boston is 7-9-4 as the underdog.
The Panthers are one of the worst teams in the NHL at covering against the puck line at home with a mark of 16-30 but Boston is just 23-23 as the road team.
When looking at the Florida Panthers schedule, a win on Tuesday would mean the next game would come in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The total has gone over in five of Boston’s last six road games against the Panthers while the Bruins are 7-3 outright over their last 10 road games. Florida has won nine of its last 10 home games and there is little that has transpired in the last three games to make one believe that Florida is on the verge of its second home loss in this year’s playoffs.
The total is set at 5.5 goals yet again in this series and don’t be surprised to see another tight-checking game land under the total.
Bruins vs Panthers Odds
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