RECAP: Panthers 6, Bruins 4

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers raised a banner and – as always – raised a little hell in a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins on Opening Night at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

“You like to think you know what you’re going to look like in the opening game, but you never do,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “That’s what keeps you awake the night before the first game, and then we looked right and fast. We were quick. Our gap was good. We skated very well. It was the banner, for sure, but it was actually the fans. That was wired. A great buzz.”

After the game, the Panthers also had a surprise announcement.

Carter “Mr. Clutch” Verhaeghe has inked an eight-year extension.

"We had a couple talks through this process,” President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito said. “This guy's a Florida Panther. I think he defines what we just went through. All the superlatives we use to describe ourselves as a team, Carter lives them every day."

Right from the get-go, you could tell the Panthers were ready to rock.

After holding the Bruins without a single shot on goal for the first 4:46 of the first period, the Panthers broke the ice and ignited their sellout crowd when Sam Bennett crashed the net after a shot from Evan Rodrigues and tapped the puck across the line to make it 1-0 at 6:27.

Just over a minute later, Eetu Luostarinen, who was flying from start to finish, got in on the action and doubled the lead when he went to the blue paint and lifted a loose puck right over Joonas Korpisalo’s outstretched pad and into the twine to make it 2-0 at 7:31.

Trying to make a physical statement after being bounced by the Panthers in the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, Boston's attempt to ruffle Florida’s feathers fell flat early.

Prior to Bennett’s opening goal, A.J. Greer answered the bell when asked by Mark Kastelic and quickly dropped the Bruins forward with a few well-placed punches. Always under the skin of the opposition, Matthew Tkachuk drew two penalties luring Boston into altercations.

On the second of those power plays for the Panthers, Adam Boqvist, the new quarterback of the team’s top unit, exited the game after being hit in the face by a flying puck. After the game, Maurice said the team is hopeful that the young defensemen won’t be out long.

Getting the Bruins on the board, Pavel Zacha picked a corner and roofed a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1 at 15:33. Turning into a brick wall after that, Bobrovsky made several huge stops on the kill as he ended up with 11 saves in the period.

Making an early submission for goal of the year, Sam Reinhart skated up the left side of the net, shrugged off Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and ripped a shot past Korpisalo to give the Panthers a 3-1 advantage with an absolutely stunning shorthanded score at 18:34.

Reinhart, who was signed to an eight-year extension this summer, led the Panthers with a career-high 57 goals in 2023-24.

At 19:34, Bennett followed up on a shot from Greer and buried the rebound to make it 4-1.

What’s the opposite of a Stanley Cup hangover?

“It’s an emotional start to the season,” Bennett said. “Seeing that banner going up, shoulder to shoulder with all the guys, was a special moment. I think it definitely gave us a little juice to start the season off. We came out flying. We were back to our style of hockey right away.”

Not taking their foot off the gas in the second period, Jonah Gadjovich tacked on another goal for the Panthers when he tapped in a cross-crease pass from Jesper Boqvist to make it 5-1 at 9:12. Just before the goal, Gadjovich forced a turnover with a heavy neutral-zone hit.

A new-look fourth line, Gadjovich, Greer and Boqvist made a great first impression.

“They’re great,” Gadjovich said. “They’re two special players. I think, for us, it’s just about being on the same page, sticking to our role and knowing what we have to do. I think we did a good job of that tonight and hopefully we can just continue to build.”

Trying to stay the fight, the Bruins cut into their large deficit just a bit when McAvoy grabbed a rebound in the slot and quickly ripped the puck past Bobrovsky to make it 5-2 at 12:32.

Shutting out any would-be comeback for the Bruins, Rodrigues, building off his stellar showing in the Stanley Cup Final, increased the lead even further for the Panthers in the third period when he sniped a shot past Korpisalo from the high slot to make it 6-2 at 6:26.

Moments before the puck went into the cage, Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo bumped Bennett and sent him flying in Korpisalo. For what seemed like the fourth or fifth time in the game, the gloves went flying again for both teams as the pushing and shoving continued.

“I think there's a bit of a rivalry there and it's continuously growing,” Rodrigues said. “They play hard. They're well coached. They're structured. They play the game the right way. I think you have two teams battling it out."

At 16:51, Trent Frederic found the back of the net to trim Boston’s deficit to 6-3. Making it a two-goal game for the Bruins not long after that, David Pastrnak, who scored a team-high 47 goals last season, slipped a shot past Bobrovsky on the power play to make it 6-4 at 18:15.

From there, the Panthers held on until the rats started flying.

With one down and 81 more games to go, two points is a great start.

“It was perfect for us,” Rodrigues said. “That’s the style we like to play and the type of hockey we like to play. It’s nice getting right into it in Game 1. I think it welcomed all the new guys to the team. It started off as a special night and ended pretty well, too.”

THEY SAID IT

“They (the players) work hard. That’s not the coach. Maybe the first camp it was, but they work hard. They’re on each other in practice and they’re in the weight room and they drive hard. We have a lot of confidence in the pace of our game.” – Paul Maurice

“I think it was good to get [the first goal] and just relax in the game a little bit.” – Sam Bennett

“Every game we seem to play against them (Boston) seems to be an entertaining one.” – Evan Rodrigues

FIVE CATS STATS

- Aleksander Barkov has recorded an assist in ten straight Home Openers.

- Sergei Bobrovsky collected his seventh career season-opening win.

- Eleven different Panthers recorded at least one point.

- Anton Lundell fired a team-leading five shots on goal.

- The Panthers led 30-18 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s already time to hit the road!

Kicking off a four-game trip, the Panthers will visit the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.