Bruins’ Trent Frederic Calls Out Matthew Tkachuk For ‘Disrespectful’ Act

Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic dropped his gloves, ready to trade blows with Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk in the first period Tuesday night.

But the fight Frederic wanted, and the one Tkachuk supposedly said he would engage in, never came.

Unlike Frederic, Tkachuk never shook off his gloves, leaving Frederic confused as he grabbed onto Tkachuk’s jersey. A scrum followed around mid-ice and Frederic ended up being assessed with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Following Boston’s 6-4 season-opening loss at Amerant Bank Arena, Frederic revealed that Tkachuk told him he would take on the Bruins center and Frederic called him out for backing out of the fight.

“He actually asked me because I was asking him and then he didn’t. It’s hard to read that,” Frederic told reporters. “I didn’t know people did that. I think that’s a little disrespectful to the game.”

Frederic’s comments only adds to the rivalry the Bruins and Panthers have created in recent years with Tkachuk being a villain in the eyes of the Boston fan base.

While Tkachuk and Frederic, who tallied a third-period goal, didn’t square off, there was still plenty of nastiness throughout the contest. Bruins newcomer Mark Kastelic and former Bruins forward A.J. Greer exchanged fists less than six minutes into the game. Sam Bennett also ran over Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo in the third period.

The Bruins certainly wanted a measure of revenge after the Panthers ended Boston’s season the last two years in the playoffs. But trying to get back at Florida, especially with physical play, seemed to cloud the Bruins’ judgment. They were undisciplined at points by committing eight penalties.

“I don’t know. Maybe a little. I mean, my mind was probably not in the greatest place for the first hockey game (of the season),” Frederic said. “Positive there is we kept pushing back and I think we just ran out of time. We’ll get them in the next week or so.”