MVN: Most Valuable Network

Following Thursday's 3-1 win in Tampa Bay, the Boston Bruins will look to make it a perfect sweep through the Sunshine State, as they pay a visit to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. This will be the second meeting of the season between the Bruins and Panthers, as Boston took a 4-2 decision two weeks ago at the TD Banknorth Garden.

After a slow start to the season, the Florida Panthers have begun to turn it on. Florida enters Saturday's contest on a three-game winning streak, and hasn't lost a game in regulation since the November 21st setback in Boston (five games). The three wins came against Buffalo, Washington, and the New York Rangers. Thanks to a recent decline by the Carolina Hurricanes, the Panthers are now within one point of second place in the Southeast Division, with a game in hand on Carolina. Overall, Florida has a record of 11-11-3, which is good for 25 points, and a tie for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. One thing to note for Saturday's game is that the Panthers have had decent success at home (6-3-2), while having some difficulty on the road (5-8-1).

Although it has only been about two weeks since the teams last tangled, there will be some different looks when the two sides take the ice for warmups. On Boston's side, Aaron Ward will miss his second straight game, while Dennis Wideman appears to be a gametime decision. On the other end of the rink, the Panthers have six players currently listed on injured reserve. Two of those players are David Booth and Nathan Horton, who combined on Florida's first goal against Boston back in November. In a bit of an odd twist as far as Bruins' fans are concerned, Richard Zednik could also be watching from the stands, as he has missed the last five games.

Perhaps the most significant change for the Panthers as of late has been their goaltending. Entering the season, there wasn't much question that Tomas Vokoun would be Florida's starter. However, Vokoun was pulled during a 3-2 overtime loss against the New Jersey Devils on November 26th, and hasn't appeared between the pipes since. 27-year old Craig Anderson has jumped at the opportunity, posting a 3-0-1 record in his last four starts. For someone who was supposed to be a backup at the beginning of the year, Anderson's numbers are incredible. The former Bruin is 6-1-3, with a 1.89 goals against average, a .947 save percentage, and two shutouts. On the other hand, Vokoun sits at 5-10-1, with a 3.01 goals against average, a .911 save percentage, and one shutout. If Anderson continues to have success, one has to wonder if he will earn the top spot in Sunrise.

Part of the reason that Anderson has done so well is because he has a very tough group of defensemen playing in front of him. The leader of that crew is Jay Bouwmeester, who actually leads the Panthers with 12 assists and 15 points. After missing the first few weeks of the season due to injury, Bryan McCabe has fit in nicely, with four goals and seven assists in 15 contests. McCabe is second on the team to Stephen Weiss, with a plus/minus of plus-7. Keith Ballard has been another pleasant addition to the Florida blueline. He has three goals and eight assists, while earning a team-high 39 penalty minutes. Nick Boynton, Karlis Skrastins, Jassen Cullimore, and Noah Welch round out Florida's defense, while Bryan Allen and Cory Murphy remain out of the lineup.

Forward has been the position most affected by the injury bug, as David Booth, Nathan Horton, and Cory Stillman have all been sidelined. This is not the best news for the Panthers, as Booth and Horton are second and fourth on the team in scoring. Booth is far and away Florida's leading goal scorer with 12, while Horton splits up his production with six goals and seven assists. Luckily for the Panthers, Stephen Weiss remains in the lineup with his three goals and 11 assists to lead the forwards. Gregory Campbell is next in line with six goals and six assists in 20 games, playing alongside Radek Dvorak and Ville Peltonen. Dvorak has three goals and eight assists, while Peltonen has four goals and five assists, but Peltonen frequently gives the Bruins problems when the two teams meet up.

Fans around the American Hockey League might want to start keeping an eye on Lowell Devils' goaltender Jeff Frazee. Prior to the injury to Martin Brodeur in New Jersey, Frazee was spending time developing his game in the ECHL. Since then, the 21-year old earned a trip to Lowell, and has been nothing short of spectacular. Unfortunately, the Providence Bruins found that out the hard way on Friday, as they fell to Frazee and the Devils 3-1. Lowell opened the scoring in the first period, as Anssi Salmela connected with Alexander Vasyunov. The Devils doubled their lead in the second, when Brad Mills cashed in for his second goal in as many games against the Baby B's. Vladimir Sobotka put the P-Bruins on the board with a power play goal later in the period, but struggled to put another puck into the net after that. With 10:23 remaining in the third period, Chad Wiseman extended the lead, and Frazee's 29 saves made it stand up. With the win, Frazee improves to 6-1-1 with Lowell. Tuukka Rask suffered the loss for Providence, despite making 28 saves on 31 shots.

The Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers drop the puck at 7:00 Saturday night at the BankAtlantic Center, while the Providence Bruins get to enjoy a rare Saturday off. They will be back in action Sunday, hosting the Springfield Falcons.