BOSTON — The Florida Panthers are clearly in the Bruins’ heads right now. For the past two seasons, the Panthers have ended the Bruins’ season in the playoffs, and in the 2024-25 campaign, Florida has taken the first two contests between the two clubs. The latest was a 4-3 decision at TD Garden on Monday afternoon.
The Bruins reacted twice when Panthers forward A.J. Greer and defenseman Nate Schmidt hit Boston star David Pastrnak. Greer took a run at Pastrnak along the wall and Pavel Zacha dropped the gloves in retaliation. Later in the first period, after Pastrnak took an interference penalty on Sam Reinhart, Schmidt was about to take a run at Pastrnak when Brad Marchand literally jumped over his teammate and dropped the gloves, which resulted in a roughing penalty on the Boston captain.
“They’re winning the mental side of the battle on us,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “And yup, Pasta got hit. And I love what (Pavel) did, went in and defended him, that’s great. But the penalties after that? I mean, it’s just not disciplined.
Montgomery continued: “And it’s all four games that we take at least four minors. You can’t win hockey games that way, and then we can’t lose as many battles as we do. 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 level.”
The Bruins gave up two special teams goals in the contest. Reinhart scored a power-play goal in the first period with Charlie McAvoy sitting in the box for a cross-check, and he added an unassisted shorthanded goal in the second period to extend Florida’s lead to 3-2. Across the ice, Boston couldn’t capitalize on four power opportunities, registering just three shots on the man advantage.
“Lost battles,” Montgomery said of the power play struggles. “It’s the same thing. We’re not coming up with enough pucks, so you don’t get the O-zone time if you’re not executing on, not winning draws and not executing on your entries.”
