Florida is trying its best to keep alive its playoff hopes. Thanks to stellar goaltending from Roberto Luongo, the Panthers held off Nashville, 2-1, at home on Tuesday. The Panthers are 12-4-1 to the Under in their last 17 home games.

This marks the Panthers' third game in four days and fourth in six so look for a tight-checking, conservative game from Florida.

Boston was shut out in its last two games by Tampa Bay two days ago. The Lightning had allowed at least three goals per game in six of its last seven games previous to that.

Tuukka Rask has been on his game for Boston. He had surrendered two goals or fewer in four straight games before yielding four to the Lightning, the highest-scoring team in the league. Florida ranks 15th in scoring. The Panthers haven't broken the three-goal barrier in their last six games. I see Rask coming back with a strong performance against a much weaker offense than he last faced.

The Under has cashed the past four times these teams have met in Florida. Boston and Florida play again Sunday in a make-up game from Jan. 4. So neither team likely will want to show too much with such a short turnaround before playing each other again, which is another plus for the Under.