Bruins Should Take Obvious Lesson From Season-Opening Loss

The Bruins started their season on the wrong foot Tuesday, suffering a lopsided defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla.

Boston has a few positives it can take from the outing.

Joonas Korpisalo was under siege early, but eventually settled in and showcased a calmness that seemed to disappear over his time with the Ottawa Senators. Pavel Zacha scored a shorthanded goal, while the penalty kill as a whole looked rather dominant. Mark Kastelic was a pleasant surprise, and should help bring some punch to the bottom-six.

It’s impossible to ignore the biggest problem coming out of Amerant Bank Arena, however.

How have the Bruins not learned to ignore Matthew Tkachuk?

The B’s fell for just about every trick in the 26-year-old’s book, being called for eight total penalties and finding themselves taking runs at “The Rat King” halfway through the first period. Tkachuk put his fiercest rival on tilt almost immediately, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty out of Trent Frederic with the classic move of suggesting a fight but refusing to drop the gloves.

“He actually asked me (to fight) and then he didn’t. I didn’t know people did that. I think that’s a little disrespectful to the game,” Frederic said postgame, as seen on NESN. “I don’t think I can quote him, but he said ‘Let’s go.’ I guess he wasn’t talking about fighting… My mind was probably not in the greatest place for a first-game hockey game. We’ll get them next week or so.”

Tkachuk did something similar to David Pastrnak during their playoff matchup last season. Frederic must not have remembered. Nikita Zadorov, who got his first taste of the rivalry Tuesday, immediately came to realize emotions got the best of Boston.

“Maybe there was a little too much emotion and less focus on hockey,” Zadorov said, as seen on NESN.

Ya think?

Max Jones and Zadorov each took a pair of minor penalties in their first game with their new team, both being baited into dumb decisions and being sent to the box. Kastelic, meanwhile, fought old friend A.J. Greer in one of the first shifts of the game. Pastrnak continued to allow Tkachuk to be maybe the only player on the planet to get under his skin, while Frederic got duped into the unsportsmanlike penalty we mentioned earlier.

The Bruins didn’t look composed, nor comfortable, throughout the majority of the loss — and it all started with Tkachuk.

Tkachuk has an innate ability to get into the heads of his opponents, and no club made it easier than Boston over the last three seasons. Florida had other pesty players worth shifting attention toward, like Sam Bennett, who not only continues to fill up the box score against the B’s but has been involved in more than a few questionable plays. The Bruins might want to worry more about that guy than the second-line winger whose value comes in getting under their skin.

The Bruins host the Panthers on Monday at 1 p.m. ET on NESN. If they learned anything from their season-opener, it’s that they can’t continue to allow Tkachuk and his merry group of goons to live rent-free in their heads.

“I think it’s good. It’ll be fun at our rink,” Frederic said. “It should be fun.”