The Florida Panthers may have found something in Jesper Boqvist, a 26-year-old forward from Sweden.
Boqvist, who has scored nine goals — including four in his past five games, looks to continue his torrid play on Saturday afternoon when the Panthers host the Boston Bruins in Sunrise, Fla.
“He’s earned it,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Boqvist’s playing time. “We’ve used him at left wing and right wing. He’s played center for us. He’s played with different people, and he’s very competitive.
“You like to reward guys who have played hard and have set themselves up for a strong second half of the season.”
Florida is powered on offense by Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, captain Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe.
Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (23) and points (47), while Tkachuk has 14 and 38, respectively. Barkov has 11 goals and leads Florida in assists (25). Bennett (13) and Verhaeghe (10) also have double-digit goal totals.
Defensively, the Panthers rely on goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight. Bobrovsky is 18-9-1 with a 2.69 goals-against average. Knight is 7-6-1 with a 2.80 GAA.
The Panthers are 2-0-0 against Boston this season, beating the Bruins 6-4 on Oct. 8 and 4-3 on Oct. 14.
Florida is coming off a 4-1 win at Utah on Wednesday.
Boston, meanwhile, has suffered six straight losses (0-5-1), including a 4-1 defeat at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
The Bruins haven’t won a game since 2024, beating Columbus on Dec. 28. In their past two games, the Bruins have scored a total of just one goal.
David Pastrnak leads the Bruins in goals (17), assists (25) and points (42). He has scored four goals in Boston’s past four games.
Captain Brad Marchand is second on the Bruins in goals (15) and assists (18). However, he has gone eight straight games without scoring a goal and has just three assists in that span.
Getting Marchand, 36, going again will be a key on Saturday for the Bruins.
But it’s more than just Marchand.
“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot time and time again,” Bruins forward Morgan Geekie said. “Lots of our mistakes are self-appointed.
“We have to figure it out in our (locker-room). … We’ve got guys who can do that. I believe in each and every one of our guys.”
The Bruins certainly believe in players such as defenseman Charlie McAvoy and goalie Jeremy Swayman.
McAvoy, an All-Star in 2022, is in his prime at age 27. He hasn’t missed a game this season, and he leads Bruins defensemen in goals (five) and assists (14). He is fourth on the team in plus/minus at plus-2.
Swayman, 26, made the NHL’s All-Rookie team in 2024, and he was an All-Star last season. In October, he signed an eight-year, $66-million contract extension.
So far, however, he has not played up to the contract. He is 13-15-3 with a career-worst GAA of 2.92. His .893 save percentage is a career low.
–Field Level Media
