Bruins Continue To Lose ‘Mental Side Of The Battle’ To Panthers
BOSTON– The Boston Bruins are in denial.
They won’t admit it, but the Florida Panthers are firmly in their heads.
They don’t have to, either.
That fact was evident on Monday afternoon at TD Garden, where the Panthers took the latest installment of the one-sided war, 4-3.
“At the end of the day, it’s two points,” said Bruins captain Brad Marchand. “There’s no bearing on last year. It’s not going to change anything that’s happened. It’s two points that we didn’t win.”
Yes, it is only two points in the standings, but in the grand scheme, it is so much more. Monday’s loss was already Boston’s second to Florida this season and 12th in the last two years, including the playoffs.
In that time, the story has remained the same.
Without fail, every time the two teams come together, the Panthers use mind games and underhanded tactics to gain an edge over the Bruins. Such was the case on Monday when, despite doing their best to maintain their composure to start, the Bruins fell for Florida’s usual tricks.
A tightly played 1-1 game fell into disarray midway through the first period when former Bruin A.J. Greer drove David Pastrnak into the boards from behind.
It was a dangerous hit, no doubt. One that went without a penalty being called and absolutely warranted the typically passive Pavel Zacha fighting Greer in Pastrnak’s defense.
But even after the score was settled, the Bruins kept going back for more.
“They’re winning the mental side of the battle,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said. “Yeah, [Pastarak] got hit, and I love what [Zacha] did. He went in and defended him. That’s great. But the penalties after that, I mean, it’s just not disciplined. You can’t win hockey games that way.”