Bruins still have ways to go to reach Panthers’ level after latest loss

Bruins still have ways to go to reach Panthers’ level after latest loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — The Florida Panthers are not only a more talented team than the Boston Bruins, the defending Stanley Cup champions also are the gold standard of winning battles all over the ice.

They do a masterful job winning 50-50 pucks and fighting for inside ice. They also are excellent at getting under the opponents’ skin and knocking them off their game. And when the other team does make an undisciplined mistake, the opportunistic Panthers often capitalize.

That’s been the story of the Bruins-Panthers rivalry over the last two-plus seasons, including two playoff series, and it was again the case in Monday afternoon’s matchup at TD Garden.

The Bruins were undisciplined with their emotions and with the puck, and they lost way too many battles in a 4-3 loss to the Panthers, who now have a 2-0-0 edge in the season series. The worst part for the Bruins was that the Panthers didn’t even have their two-best players in center Aleksander Barkov (injury) and left wing Matthew Tkachuk (illness). Those two stars are elite at winning battles, but so are many of their teammates.

The Bruins began to lose their composure when David Pastrnak was hit from behind by Panthers forward A.J. Greer at 11:23 of the first period. Bruins forward Pavel Zacha stepped right in to defend Pastrnak and fought Greer, but for the rest of the period, Boston took too many bad penalties.

“Again, they’re winning the mental side of the battle on us,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said postgame. “Pasta got hit, and I love what Pavel did. Went in and defended him, that’s great. But the penalties after that, it’s just not disciplined. It’s been all four games that we take at least four minor penalties. You can’t win hockey games that way.”

“We can’t lose as many battles as we did. I mean, they’re the standard right now in the NHL for winning battles, and we’re not up to that level yet. We have to vastly improve that.”

A lack of discipline was a huge problem for the Bruins when these teams met last week in the season opener. The B’s took a lot of penalties, and the Panthers had six power plays as a result, including one power-play goal. On Monday, the Bruins gave the Panthers five power plays, and Sam Reinhart cashed in on one during the first period to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy cross-checked Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe near the blue line. And it wasn’t just one cross check, it was a couple. It was a bad penalty to take, and Reinhart — who scored 57 goals last season — made the B’s pay.

“I think that’s been the biggest thing playing this team twice so far is managing our highs and lows of the game, the emotional parts,” Bruins forward Mark Kastelic said postgame.

“We want to get retribution early, but I think there’s definitely a time and place, trying to be as smart as we can about it but also having each other’s back out there.”

One lost battle that resulted in a goal happened during a second period power play when Bruins center Matthew Poitras had the puck taken away from him by Reinhart in the attacking zone. Reinhart led the transition up ice and eventually went to the front of the net, where he cashed in on a loose puck after Poitras crashed into Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.

Giving a team with loads of offensive firepower like the Panthers 11 power-play opportunities in two games is a recipe for disaster. The Bruins haven’t been able to control their emotions against this team for some time, and that was again the case Monday.

A lack of discipline with the puck is another issue for the B’s. The Bruins had 17 giveaways in the first meeting last week, and 14 more in Monday’s game. The Panthers are better than just about every team at taking away time and space and forcing the opponent to make a mistake with the puck.

The Bruins will likely be a very good team in the regular season. They have an elite goaltender, decent scoring depth and are generally hard to play against. It wouldn’t be surprising if Boston finishes first or second in the Atlantic Division and even makes an attempt to claim the Presidents’ Trophy again.

But none of that will matter one bit if they can’t beat the Panthers when it matters most in April and May. The Panthers have beaten the Bruins in each of the last two playoff runs, and nothing that Boston has shown through two meetings this season suggests the outcome will be different in the spring if these rivals meet a third time.

The Panthers own the Bruins right now. The B’s have all season to improve and change that, but there’s no denying Florida is their kryptonite right now.