Playing some of his best hockey of the season prior to being injured, Bobrovsky owns a 7-5-1 record with a .912 save percentage and one shutout over his previous 14 appearances.
Also returning, Spencer Knight, who last played on Jan. 8, will be backing up Bobrovsky.
"It's kind of two contexts," Maurice said of coming back from the All-Star break. "One, it's the first game back after a break. You're never sure what it's going to look like early, but probably both teams get better as this game goes on. Then, we go right back into a fight we've been in."
Sitting at 24-22-6, the Panthers, who sit just three points out of a playoff spot, entered the All-Star break full of confidence after coming from behind to stun the Bruins in Sunrise on Jan. 28.
After falling behind 3-2 with 49 seconds left in regulation, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov netted the game-tying goal with three seconds left on the clock to force overtime. Then, just 17 seconds into the extra frame, Sam Reinhart buried the game-winning goal to lock in the 4-3 win.
Matthew Tkachuk, who earned MVP honors at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game on Saturday, dished out a pair of assists against Boston to increase his team-leading point total to 66 (25 goals, 41 assists). As for Barkov, who also shined in the All-Star Game, he extended his point streak to 11 games.
Coming out of the break, the Panthers want to pick up right where they left off.
"I think we just try to stick with it," said Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe, who's scored a team-leading 26 goals. "We know how good of a team we are. It was nice to have that little break and get everyone healthy. We're just looking to have a good stretch here."
With a week since their last game, starting strong against Tampa Bay will be key.
"I think it's going to be a simple game," Verhaeghe said. "It's going to be kind of a grindy game. The timing's probably off for some players, and the game flow. It's going to be important to have a good first couple shifts."
Occupying third place in the Atlantic Division, the Lightning sit at 32-15-1 and cruised into the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak. During that three-game run, they defeated the Wild (4-2) and Bruins (3-2) before closing things out with a 5-2 win over the Kings on Jan. 28.
After taking a 3-1 lead in the first period on goals from Brayden Point, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Corey Perry, the Lightning were never really in danger against Los Angeles. Ross Colton and Victor Hedman added goals later in the tilt, while Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 26 of 28 shots in net.
Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay in scoring with 72 points (19 goals, 53 assists), while Steven Stamkos is second with 57 points (24 goals, 33 assists). Point is third in scoring with 54 points, including scoring a team-high 29 goals. Of those 29 goals, 20 have come have even-strength.
Starting 10 of the last 11 games for the Lightning, Vasilevskiy has been a workhorse once again this season. In 36 appearances thus far, he's registered a 23-12-1 record with a .918 save percentage.
Facing off for the third time this season, the Lightning have taken both games so far, but the Panthers have gone 5-2-2 against their cross-state rivals in their last nine meetings overall.
As always, the Battle of Florida should provide some fireworks.
"They're across the state and we've played them two years in a row in the playoffs and lost to them," Verhaeghe said. "We're not too happy about that. There's definitely a lot of compete out there and a little bit of a bad blood. It's a lot of fun to play in these games."
