Sam Bennett scored twice, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist, and the Florida Panthers opened defense of their Stanley Cup championship by topping the Boston Bruins 6-4 on Tuesday in the opener for both teams.
Euto Luostarinen and Jonah Gadjovich also scored for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots. Florida raised its championship banner before the game.
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Pavel Zacha, Charlie McAvoy, Trent Frederic and David Pastrnak scored for Boston, which had won five consecutive openers. Florida is 4-1 in its last five openers.
Takeaways
Bruins: Boston went with Joonas Korpisalo in net instead of newly re-signed Jeremy Swayman, who got his eight-year, $66 million deal done Sunday. Korpisalo made 29 saves. When it was 5-1 midway through the second, Panthers fans serenaded the Bruins with chants of “We want Swayman.”
Panthers: Florida dealt with some chippiness against Boston, which was ousted by the Panthers the last two postseasons. Much was directed at Matthew Tkachuk — he and the Bruins have plenty of history — but even officials weren’t safe. Boston’s Max Jones tried to slash Rodrigues, but hit linesman Devin Berg instead to earn a 2-minute unsportsmanlike penalty.
Key moment
There were two, with the Panthers scoring two quick goals on two occasions in the opening period. Bennett and Luostarinen scored 64 seconds apart for a 2-0 lead. After Boston scored, Reinhart and Bennett scored exactly 60 seconds apart to make it 4-1.
Key stat
Including playoffs, this was the 22nd meeting between the Panthers and Bruins since the start of the 2022-23 season. No two teams have faced each other more in that span. The wins in those 22 games: Panthers 11, Bruins 11. The goal total: Panthers 74, Bruins 74.
Up next
Boston starts a three-game homestand Thursday against Montreal. Florida goes to Ottawa to start a four-game, six-day road trip Thursday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl