Bruins run into familiar problems in Opening Night loss to Panthers

It goes without saying that the rosters for both the Bruins and Panthers have gone through their offseason changes. The Bruins, in theory, are better. And the Panthers, forced to make some difficult decisions as a champion in a hard-capped league, had the potential to be a touch worse than they were.

But if you didn't have access to a calendar or any sense of time (oh, how jealous I would be of your life), you could've easily been convinced that Tuesday's season-opening head-to-head between the Bruins and Panthers at Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena was just another game in their playoff series.

That, much to the chagrin of those in The Hub, is not a compliment to the Bruins.

Boston's latest punch(es) in the mouth from their new top rival came fast and furious in this contest, too, with the Bruins looking skyward before they could even get their bearings. In what felt like the blink of an eye (it was seven and a half minutes), they were not just outshot 10-1, but they were down by a pair.

The Panthers scoring two quickies on Joonas Korpisalo (an .890 with the Senators last year) was not the surprise, but rather being surprised by that kind of attack from Florida was what felt stunning.

Back in May, the Bruins acknowledged that they were not a shot volume team. They addressed that by adding Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. The former a strong faceoff option and puck-possession center, the latter a menacing figure who allowed the Bruins to spread their defense out to be a complete, towering unit.

And internally, the Bruins talked about their slow starts and how that had to be corrected. Too many times did Jim Montgomery outright admit that they did not start the game on time, and too many times did he offer a "I don't know why" when asked why that was the case.

The Bruins did not start on time, and they did not look like a team that was redesigned to answer the litany of problems that the Panthers have caused them in back-to-back postseasons.

But even beyond the sluggish start, the B's ran into familiar problems when it came to even establishing anything offensively. Perhaps the best example of this came in the middle frame when Brandon Carlo carried the puck up to the red line, but ultimately turned it over with pressure from the Panthers and it was that inability to get it in deep that helped spark the Panthers on what was perhaps their easiest looking goal of the evening.

As has been the case for the Bruins in this head-to-head, that failure to get it in deep came back to haunt them.

Of course, one game does not make a season. This is especially true when you look at how the Bruins swept the season series with the Panthers a year ago only to run into familiar problems in round two of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But make no mistake about it, if these teams hit their respective ceilings, the Panthers are going to be in the Bruins' way once again this postseason. And as this showdown continues to reach Pedro-Yankees '04 levels of madness for the Bruins, just how much closer the Bruins are to bridging the gap remains unknown.

At least until we stop living through the same game again and again and again.

Here are some other thoughts, notes, and takeaways from an ugly loss in Sunrise...

If we're looking at the Bruins' decision to start Joonas Korpisalo in this game, I do think they made the right call. From a team point of view, it would've been a bit weird to outright say that Jeremy Swayman would not have enough practice time to be truly ready, laud Korpisalo for his professionalism and strides he made in camp (something Swayman did not participate in due to his contract stalemate), and then go back on that after one practice. The Bruins acknowledged it as a possibility on Monday, sure, but it never seemed like the right move. 

Hindsight being hindsight, it did not play out that way for the Black and Gold, with the 30-year-old Korpisalo tagged for six goals on 35 shots in what was his Bruins debut. 

The first Bruins goaltender to make his first start as a Bruin on Opening Night since Manny Fernandez in 2007, Korpisalo was absolutely shelled out of the gate (the Panthers had 17 shots on 30 shot attempts in the opening 20 minutes of play), and surrendered four goals in his first frame as a Bruin. And it truly was a mixed bag. 

Given the shot volume, as well as some of the misplays in front of him, I'm not sure anybody would've fared all that much better. But some of Korpisalo's Ottawa struggles came to the table in this contest. His rebound control was suspect out of the gate, and he had multiple instances of outright losing sight of the puck, with two of those ending with the puck in the B's net. There was also the shorthanded goal that Korpisalo surrendered, which came at a point where the Bruins desperately needed a save to build some momentum their way and stop the bleeding. 

And this is going to be the biggest challenge for the Bruins going from Linus Ullmark to Korpisalo, really. 

Yes, the Bruins have an absolute wizard of a goaltending coach with Bob Essensa. But the Bruins have relied on their goaltending to make insane save after insane save for the last two years. Possession battles have frequently gone to the opposition, and it's been the biggest thing I've brought up when people have said, "Oh, well he'll be great in Boston because the Bruins are the Bruins and the Senators are the Senators." If you looked at those two teams a year ago, they surrendered chances at comparable rates, but the biggest difference was the Bruins' goaltenders made saves they had no business making while the Sens' goaltending tandem crumbled. Even if you went back and looked at Korpisalo's brief-but-successful tenure with the Kings, you'd notice that the Kings were one of the best teams in all of hockey when it came to limiting chances and shots against.

The Bruins were not that team on Tuesday night, and if they're not that team moving forward, this might be a harsh reality check at the 'G2' spot in the sense that not every goalie can be a high-danger killer. 

If you're looking for some good news in a pretty disappointing night for the Bruins, that certainly came with Elias Lindholm getting on the board with an assist in his Bruins debut. 

Beyond the assist, Lindholm also totaled a forward-high three blocks (tied with Johnny Beecher there), and generated multiple scoring chances. And while the expectation is that Lindholm will primarily play the bumper on Boston's top power-play unit, the third period did come with a look at Lindholm's versatility there, as he was able to rotate to the half wall (where he played in Vancouver) and help keep some plays alive for the B's.  

Lindholm's greatest value may very well come with the fact that teams are going to have to respect his ability to shoot the puck, which can and should open things up for Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak. And on the power play, his status as a viable right-shot bumper can open things up for Brad Marchand to fire pucks on goal. 

- Another element of this game that felt like a repeat of last year came with the Panthers' ability to worm their way into the B's heads and force them to take some downright bad penalties.

The Bruins were clearly interested in getting some frontier justice on Matthew Tkachuk — be it for last year's scrap with David Pastrnak or just his general vibe as a downright annoying player to play against — but it was clear that Tkachuk had no interest. That lack of interest led to penalties against for both Trent Frederic and Nikita Zadorov. And, listen, it's going to piss all of Boston off, but that's going to remain the case, too. Tkachuk is not going to fight anybody unless it's the perfect opportunity to pick his spot like with Pastrnak a year ago. 

The Bruins committing themselves to trying to make him answer for anything is going to get them nowhere. 

- Pavel Zacha opening the scoring for the Bruins this season is one of those things that feels sneaky important to this year's club. Zacha has been a pretty streaky scorer for the Bruins throughout his Boston tenure, and the Bruins are going to need him to be their third-best scoring threat up front behind David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. Oh, and he has an absolute cannon of a shot and needs to use it more, so there's also that. 

- Given the puck-dominating nature of the Panthers, as well as the overall effectiveness of their team defense, perhaps this night is not the best night to judge the B's offensive attack. But if we're gong to, this feels like a middle six that desperately needs the speed and craftiness of a player like Matt Poitras (day-to-day) in action, be it at center or on the wing, to help spark a forward group full of lumbering, heavy hitters.