Saying that the Boston Bruins season-opener against the Florida Panthers in South Florida Tuesday night was a disappointment would be an understatement. First, Florida raised their Stanley Cup Championship banner, then they went out and blitzed the Black and Gold with four first period goals.
To compound matters, the Panthers proved that they were already in the Bruins' head by baiting Boston into penalties and making them undisciplined hockey. It all added up to a 6-4 win for the defending champs. Now six days later, the Bruins get another shot at their new Atlantic Division rivals, this time at the TD Garden looking to have a better 60 minutes than they did in the opener. If they are, head coach Jim Montgomery has a clear message for success.
Jim Montgomery has clear message ahead of Panthers rematch
Sunday at Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins held an optional skate. After a 2-1 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings, it wasn't surprising that the third-year Boston coach made it an optional skate. Montgomery met with the media after and shared what his team needs to do to have better success against the Panthers on Monday afternoon.
“We have to get back to playing hockey,” said Montgomery. “I love it that we have emotion and they’re a rival. But at the same time, we have to be disciplined. We’re taking too many penalties.”
Tuesday night, Trent Frederic took a penalty when Matthew Tkachuk baited him into a penalty and fight, but the problem was, that Florida's forward chose not to drop the gloves. Later in the opening period, Nikita Zadorov took a penalty in a scrum that gave the Panthers another power play.
I understand the frustration that Boston has against Florida as the Panthers have eliminated them for two consecutive seasons from the postseason, but they need to put it behind them and just play hockey. Staying out of the box is an almost must on Monday.