Last night, the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers played each other in a spirited tilt in what was the first game of the NHL season.
Overall, it was not a great night for the Bruins who lost the game 6-4. They were down 5-1 at one point and it was clear that they were missing Jeremy Swayman. Meanwhile, it was also a very chippy game with a ton of on-ice incidents. For instance, Max Jones slashed a referee by accident after he meant to slash Evan Rodrigues of the Panthers.
There were also some incidents involving none other than Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers and Trent Frederic of the Boston Bruins. At one point, Tkachuk continued to bait Frederic into a fight but never actually dropped the mitts. This had Frederic furious and he ended up accusing Tkachuk of breaking hockey code.
'I didn't know guys did that, it's a little disrespectful to the game.'
To be completely honest, it feels like there are some sour grapes here right now. The Boston Bruins lost bad and the Panthers are defending Stanley Cup champions at that. The Bruins believe that should have been them, but it isn't. Sure, Tkachuk might be instigating stuff, but he's doing what he needs to do to win. The Bruins need to find a way to do the same.
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