Panthers and Bruins Bring Their Hate Back to Sunrise Today

The Florida Panthers should have no problems getting fired up to play this afternoon. After all, the Bruins are in town.

On Wednesday night, coach Paul Maurice noted that, due to the unfamiliar arena in Salt Lake City and infrequent meetings with the Utah team, he found it difficult to hate them.

There is no love lost between Maurice’s Panthers and the Bruins.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the natural geographic rival for the Panthers, but the bitterest rivalry remains with the Bruins.

There is a reason today’s game is on national television, and ABC’s promos were filled with fighting and hard hits from previous meetings between the two rivals.

As they said in the classic movie Slap Shot: Aggressive hockey is back in town.

“Those were easily the two most physical, nasty series that I’ve ever been a part of,” Maurice said Friday morning. “It’s one I would, for sure, pay money to go see. They are heavy, they are fast. Lots of skill.”

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After being dramatically eliminated by the Panthers in the past two Stanley Cup playoff series, one might have a little sympathy for the Bruins.

But the Bruins were the opponent for Florida’s opening night this year, deciding to hang out in their dressing room while the raucous fans had another look at the Stanley Cup and watched the championship banner raised to the rafters.

If that wasn’t enough, the Panthers won the game in a blowout.

Less than a week later, Boston had a chance at redemption at TD Garden but again lost to the Panthers — even with Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk out of the lineup.

Both games, as has been the case lately, were on the chippy side.

The Panthers were causing head games with their bitter rivals.

The Bruins started slowly, and now-former coach Jim Montgomery was replaced on an interim basis by Joe Sacco after 20 games.

Boston was 8-9-3 at the time.

Within days, Montgomery was hired by the St. Louis Blues.

The Bruins are 12-10-2 since the coaching change — and come into today’s game riding a six-game losing streak.

David Pastrnak, as expected, leads the team in scoring but is well off last season’s pace and spent Friday’s media session in Fort Lauderdale fending off questions stemming from a radio report that he and Brad Marchand don’t get along all that well.

In net, the duo of Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo have not given the Bruins what Swayman and Linus Ullmark did last season.

Ullmark is enjoying a good season in Ottawa. The Sens are on the cusp of a wild-card spot.

The Panthers have three players who have played on both sides of this rivalry: Tomas Nosek, A.J. Greer, and Jesper Boqvist.

“When you’re explaining the Boston series two years ago, when you’re trying to pull something from that, you’ve got three guys who were on the other side of it,” Maurice said.

“They know exactly what you’re talking about. It was an incredible run of games. Having those guys understand – there’s a culture to this and there’s a culture to the series. It was so close, so physical. Having those guys understand – that makes it important.”

Boston lost in Tampa Bay Thursday night and the winless streak is its longest in more than five years. 

The Bruins have scored only one goal over their past two games; Swayman has suffered four straight losses.

“They’re not feeling great about themselves,” Sacco said after the loss to the Lightning. “No one wants to lose in this league. You’re in this profession, this business, to win hockey games and get results. We’re not getting them right now.”

The Bruins should show up angry today.

The Panthers are expecting nothing less.

“It has been a couple of months since we’ve seen them last, but no matter how either team is doing, it’s a game that brings out the best in both,” Sam Reinhart said. “It is a going to be a challenge, and it’s going to be a grind.

“When you have the history that we have with each other, it makes no difference where you are it. It’s a game that brings out the best in both. If you’re not ready at the start, you’re going to pay the price.’’

ON DECK: GAME No. 43

BOSTON BRUINS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season (Panthers Lead 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 6, Bruins 4 (Oct. 8); Saturday. At Boston: Panthers 4, Bruins 3 (Oct. 14); March 11.
• Last Regular Season: Bruins Won 4-0
• Last Postseason: Panthers Won ECS 4-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 64-39-7, 6 ties
• All-time Postseason Series: Florida leads 3-0 (1996 1st, 2023 1st, 2024 2nd)
• Up Next for the Panthers: Monday at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m.