Bruins' Trent Frederick calls out Matthew Tkachuck for backing away after inviting him to fight
BOSTON -- The Bruins had to watch the Panthers raise their Stanley Cup banner on Tuesday night, and then took a beating from the team that has sent them home in each of the last two postseasons. The Bruins looked a little too eager to hit back against Florida on Tuesday night, especially when the Panthers goaded them into some funny business.
The Panthers didn't always follow through on their own end, either. Florida star -- and noted pest -- Matthew Tkachuck drew the ire of Boston's Trent Frederick after the game for inviting him to throw down early in the 6-4 Bruins loss before backing away from the dance.
Frederick was willing to tango, but it was all just a ploy from Tkachuck. It led to Frederick being whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct.
"I didn't know people did that," Frederick said of Tkachuck not following through on the tussle. "I think that's a little disrespectful to the game."
That was one of eight penalties that Boston was whistled for on Tuesday night. Frederick took another penalty in the third for dusting it up with Tkachuck, who received a matching penalty. Max Jones took a pair of penalties -- including an unsportsmanlike conduct when he accidently slashed an official, and Nikita Zadorov was hit with a slashing of his own late in the third.
While the Panthers were hit with six penalties on the night, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery voiced frustration over the inbalanced officiating after the loss.
"We cross-checked them we got to the box. They cross-check us when we have an opportunity to score a goal in the second period and the call didn't go our way," said Montgomery. "Every time they tried to push back they went to the box."
The Bruins bulked up their roster over the offseason as a way to combat the Panthers. It seemed like revenge was on their mind a little too much in the first game of the season, but that was far from the Bruins' only issue in the loss. Turnovers and Boston's inability to get the puck out of their own end led to four first-period goals by Florida.
"We weren't good enough in so many areas, and they were," said Montgomery. "We looked slow the entire game, not just the first 10 minutes in my opinion."
Goaltender Joonas Koprisalo let in six of the 35 shots that he saw, but Montgomery was not blaming the netminder for Tuesday night's defeat.
"Korpisalo was not the problem tonight. It was the people in front of him," he said. "We can't give up four backdoor tap-ins and expect the goalie to make save after save. He made a lot of saves off breakaways.
"He was good enough tonight" added Montgomery. "The players in front of him, the rest of the team and the coaching staff, we weren't good enough."
The Bruins will get another crack at the Panthers in a few days, with Florida set to come to Boston on Monday, Oct. 14.