Florida @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 30, 2019 ) Florida 4, Boston 1

The Boston Bruins are mired in a season-worst three-game losing streak after ripping off six consecutive victories, but they are the only team in the league that has yet to suffer a regulation defeat on home ice. The Bruins will look to bring an end to one streak while keeping the other intact when they host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

After suffering back-to-back road setbacks at Montreal and Detroit, Boston returned to TD Garden and had its five-game home winning streak snapped in a 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia. "The October schedule, I thought, was good for us," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Even though we started on the road, it was every second night and I thought we were able to play through it. We got our appropriate rest, now we're a little more intense in games. So maybe it's starting to hit us a little bit." The Panthers enter the final stop of a three-game road trip having earned points in 12 of their last 14 contests (7-2-5), including a 6-5 shootout win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. "When you look at Boston, they've got ... the balance of a team that looks like they went to the Finals last year," said Florida's Joel Quenneville, who needs two wins to become the second coach to reach 900 for his career. "They're playing the right way, too. That's going to be the greatest test that we've had to date."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, FS Florida, NESN (Boston)

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (8-4-5): Florida captain Aleksander Barkov failed to find the net in his first 12 games this season despite collecting 13 points, but now he can't seem to miss and is riding a five-game goal-scoring streak -- two short of Pavel Bure's franchise record. Barkow also has four assists during the five-game point streak to boost his team-leading total to 22 points and has recorded 13 (six goals, seven assists) in 18 meetings with Boston. Linemate Jonathan Huberdeau also has points in five straight games and had 15 in 24 games against Boston.

ABOUT THE BRUINS (11-3-3): Defenseman Torey Krug sustained an upper-body injury in the loss to Philadelphia and has been ruled out of Tuesday's game, although the team is hopeful he will return for a weekend back-to-back. "We will re-evaluate as the week goes on," Cassidy told reporters Monday. "We're not taking him out of the equation this weekend. He was here, but again, until I get more (information) I've got nothing for you." Forwards Jake DeBrusk (lower body), Brett Ritchie (upper body) and David Backes (upper body) all will sit out Tuesday.

OVERTIME

1. The Panthers have scored on the power play in six straight games.

2. Bruins F David Pastrnak, who leads the team in goals (15) and points (30), has five and 12 in 17 games against the Panthers.

3. Florida has won five of the last eight meetings between the teams.

PREDICTION: Bruins 4, Panthers 2