REVIEW: Panthers 6, Bruins 4

Just before the puck went into the cage, Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo nudged Bennett and sent him into Korpisalo. For what felt like the fourth or fifth time in the game, both teams' gloves were flying through the air again as the scrum and scrum continued.

“I think there is a certain rivalry and it continues to grow,” Rodrigues said. “They play hard. They are well trained. They are structured. You are playing the game correctly. I think there are two teams competing against each other.”

At 16:51, Trent Frederic found the net to cut Boston's deficit to 6-3. Shortly thereafter, the game ended with two goals for the Bruins when David Pastrnak, who scored a team-high 47 goals last season, fired a shot past Bobrovsky on the power play to make the score 6-4 at 18:15.

From then on, the panthers held out until the rats began to fly.

With a deficit and 81 games left, 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 to get straight into Game 1. I think it welcomed all the new people to the team. It started off as a special night and ended pretty well too.”

YOU SAID IT

“They (the players) work hard. That's not the coach. Maybe it was the first camp, but they work hard. They train for each other, are in the weight room and ride hard. We have a lot of confidence in the speed of our game.” –Paul Maurice

“I think it was good to score (the first goal) and relax a little bit in the game.” –Sam Bennett

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

FIVE CAT STATS

– Aleksander Barkov has recorded an assist in ten consecutive home opening games.

– Sergei Bobrovsky took his seventh season-opening win of his career.

– Eleven different Panthers scored at least one point.

– Anton Lundell scored 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!

To kick off a four-game road trip, the Panthers visit the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Center on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET.