Bruins’ Jim Montgomery Sends Clear Message Before Tilt With Panthers

The Boston Bruins are 2-1-0 early in the 2024-25 NHL season with their only loss coming at the hands of the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Opening Night last week. The Panthers not only beat the Bruins 6-4, but Florida continued to get under the skin of Boston by playing the role of agitators and then failing to back up their actions when challenged. In fact, the Panthers’ most villainous characters, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, only fanned the flames with their actions in Amerant Bank Arena.

Tkachuk challenged Bruins forward Trent Frederic and then refused to drop the gloves when Frederic obliged. The action of the Panthers star caused Frederic to take an unsportsmanlike penalty and put Florida on the man advantage. Bennett drew the ire of the Bruins last season when he sucker-punched Brad Marchand in Game 3 of the playoff series between the two clubs last season. The Panthers forward didn’t help his cause when he ran Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo late in the game on Oct. 8.

The Bruins were shorthanded six times against the Panthers, and thankfully for the Black and Gold, their penalty killers did their job and held Florida scoreless on the man advantage. The Bruins cannot afford to have a repeat performance against the Panthers when Florida comes to TD Garden on Monday for a matinee matchup with Boston.

“We have got to get back to playing hockey,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters following practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Sunday, per team-provided video. “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.”

Montgomery pinpointed three areas the Bruins need to improve upon if they hope to hand the Panthers their third straight loss.

“I think for us, it’s all about execution and effort,” Montgomery said. “That wasn’t there. And start on time would be three.”

Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. You can watch all the action, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.