Florida Panthers Win Opening Night, Lose Boqvist

SUNRISE, Fla. — If there was any inkling the Florida Panthers might have a Stanley Cup hangover, they did their best to shed those concerns on opening night Tuesday. The Panthers got out to a 5-1 lead against the Boston Bruins and dominated a large portion of the game. The Bruins notched two goals late, giving the illusion that this game was closer than it was.

No Hangover

After a pregame banner-raising ceremony, the Panthers were buzzing. It certainly didn’t seem like a team that was full off of their success last year.

Sam Bennett got the scoring started seven minutes into the game when he tapped in a rebound that Boston goaltender Joonas Korpisalo couldn’t find. Eetu Luostarinen scored just over a minute later when he tapped in a loose puck.

Sam Reinhart notched his first goal while on the penalty kill. Near the end of the first period, he received a pass from Aleksander Barkov in the defensive zone and went coast-to-coast to fire the puck far side past Korpisalo.

The Panthers had 11 scoring chances in the first period to Boston’s three, with four of them being high-danger.

Evan Rodrigues and Jonah Gadjovich also scored, meaning all four Panthers lines scored on Tuesday.

“You like to think you know what you’re going to look like in the opening game, but you never do,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “And that’s what keeps you awake the night before the first game. And then we looked right, and fast, and quick. Our gap was good. We skated very well.”

They Still Hate Each Other

Florida and Boston have emerged as one of the NHL’s premier rivalries over the last two years. It seems, as expected, it bled into this season.

Opening night felt like an extension of last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals in which the Panthers won four games to two.

There was a fight five minutes into the game – it was newcomer A.J. Greer introducing himself to his new Eastern Conference foes.

At one point, Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak had to be separated after they were jawing at each other between whistles in the first period. Tkachuk took exception to getting cross-checked by Nikita Zadorov, causing a full line scuffle at center ice.

The teams had to be separated multiple times between whistles, and it only got more intense as the game went on. After an Evan Rodrigues goal halfway through the third period, Brandon Carlo pushed Sam Bennett into Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo. A line brawl ensued, and Bennett, Tkachuk, and Bruins forward Trent Frederick were sent to the box for roughing.

Adam Boqvist Leaves With Injury

Boqvist’s bad injury luck seems to have carried over into this season. The defenseman has missed major time due to injuries in each of the last three seasons. He has missed at least 30 games in the last three years, as a combination of dealing with injuries and being a healthy scratch at times.

The newly-minted powerplay quarterback was injured in the Panthers’ second man-advantage of the season when a clearance attempt by Brandon Carlo hit Boqvist in the face. The 24-year-old immediately dropped to the ice and layed there for about 10 seconds before skating off.

He did not return to the game.

Aaron Ekblad moved to the first power play unit thereafter, while Gustav Forsling was slotted into the second unit to replace him.

After the game, Maurice said Boqvist would get imaging done on Wednesday, but they feel “hopeful.”

Boqvist dealt with a similar injury while with the Columbus Blue Jackets last year. He was struck with a puck while sitting on the bench against the Calgary Flames in late January. He missed a little over two weeks.