Need to Know: Bruins vs. Panthers | Game 5

BOSTON - The Bruins are used to clinching.
Already this season, Boston has secured the Atlantic Division, the Presidents' Trophy, and, among a bevy of other NHL records, the league's all-time mark for wins and points in a single season.

As such, the Bruins - holding a 3-1 series lead - are aiming to draw on those experiences when they host the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night in Game 5 with a chance to move on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We talk about what we've done throughout the year…it's not the same amount of intensity, but we've had opportunities to clinch the Presidents' Trophy, or set the wins record, and in those games we started talking about how this was gonna help us prepare for these moments," said coach Jim Montgomery.
"That's about staying in the moment, getting back to our habits, making sure that we're playing with emotion, not being emotional, and having a really good start. That's the biggest component of everything.
"I just have a lot of confidence in the group just because they've given me no reason not to have complete confidence in how well they'll be ready to start the game."

Several of the Bruins players spoke about the difficulty of closing out a series, as the Panthers will no doubt come out with plenty of intensity with their season on the line.
"It's nice to be back here at home and just really excited to get the crowd into it. We expect them to bring their best, so we've got to be ready…it's always the hardest game," said Jake DeBrusk. "The hardest to win is the fourth and it's one of those things that they're playing for their lives. We've got to expect their best. It's about us playing our game and continuing to build. We need to do whatever we can to get the end result. You want to get it done as fast as possible and not give them any life."
"We have a chance to close it out and move on and put them away for good," said Charlie Coyle. "It's a great opportunity. It's gonna be the hardest game yet. The hardest thing to do is close a team out and of course we're looking to do that. They're looking to stay alive and push us to another game. I think we're gonna see their best game so we've got to make sure we bring it as well."
Taylor Hall added that the Panthers should bring with them a level of confidence having shown they are capable of winning at TD Garden after their 6-3 victory in Game 2 last week.
"I've been on teams where we've been on the other side and we're just looking to give it our best and give it our all and you can leave it all out there. That's what we're expecting tonight," said Hall. "We have a lot of respect for them as a team. They've already won a game on our home ice so it's not like they're thinking they're coming into a building they can't win in.
"They've won here so we're anticipating a very hard game tonight. It's gonna take 60 minutes and it's gonna take all of us. That's a really good challenge. It's exciting for us to possibly win this series and take care of business on home ice."

Bergeron Could Return

Montgomery said following an optional morning skate that Patrice Bergeron will take warmups and is considered a game-time decision. The Boston captain has not played since exiting the regular-season finale in Montreal with an upper-body injury.
"As long as he feels after warmups that he feels everything's good, he's gonna play," said Boston's bench boss.
Should Bergeron return to the lineup, it would no doubt give the Bruins - already in an enviable position in the series - a significant boost both on the ice and in the dressing room.
"He's so important for us, obviously off the ice being our captain and our leader and our emotional guy, but on the ice as well," said Taylor Hall. "He's still such an amazing player and has such an impact, especially on home ice tonight if he can matchup against [Matthew] Tkachuk or whoever it may be and really make life hard on a guy like that.
"Tkachuk's been a huge part of this series for them in spite of the fact that we still have the lead, he's been very impressive. If Bergy is in tonight, I think that will be a really good thing for us."

Lines Are Drawn

Based on Tuesday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins' lines could look a bit different if Bergeron returns. The B's top center had Tyler Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak on his wings, while Brad Marchand shifted down to play with Charlie Coyle and Nick Foligno.
Hall, meanwhile, was on a line with Pavel Zacha and Jake DeBrusk, a trio that had some strong success in the third period of Boston's 6-2 win in Game 4.
"Elite speed," Montgomery said of what that line brings. "Everyone's a first-round pick…we think that we can use that line as an advantage. They did a good job in the third period together, so we want to see what it looks like again tonight."
DeBrusk joked that it seems every time that trio is together, he finds the back of the net.
"We haven't really played much together but whenever we seem to come together, it seems like I get a goal. I personally like it a lot," DeBrusk said with a smile. "They're two fast players, they're very skilled, both think the game very smart, and both are playmakers."

Opposing View

Florida coach Paul Maurice said all the players on his roster are "healthy, everybody's game-time" decisions. Following Tuesday's practice, Maurice told reporters that defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Anthony Duclair, who sat out Game 4, would be good to go on Wednesday night.

Wednesday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Tyler Bertuzzi - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand - Charlie Coyle - Nick Foligno
Taylor Hall - Pavel Zacha - Jake DeBrusk
Jakub Lauko - Tomas Nosek - Garnet Hathaway
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Dmitry Orlov
GOALIES
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman