Oftentimes, the fun of a night that begins with the raising of a Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters ends right then and there. But if Tuesday night was supposed to come with a post-ceremony letdown for the fans at Amerant Bank Arena, the Panthers did not get that memo.
Instead, the Panthers picked up right where they left off a year ago, as they outworked the Bruins early and often, blitzed them with their signature snarl, and made a 6-4 victory look downright easy.
Florida’s attack was as fast and furious as ever, too, with four goals dropped on the Bruins’ Joonas Korpisalo in the opening 20 minutes of action, and with a 12 of the game’s first 13 shots credited to the relentless Panther attack.
And by the night’s end, the Panthers had six goals on the board, with five different players credited with a goal, and 11 of their 18 skaters credited with at least one point in the victory.