Bruins Mark Kastelic gets into a fight on one of his first shifts with his new team
Bruins Mark Kastelic wasted no time getting physical with his new team as he took on Panthers AJ Greer in a spirited fight early on in the first period.
The Florida Panthers kicked off tonight's first game of the 2024-25 season in an entertaining matchup with the Boston Bruins. The evening started off celebratory as the Panthers raised their 2024 Stanley Cup Championship banner to an energetic crowd, living the glory of the win before the puck even dropped.
The game got physical in a hurry, with new Bruins forward Mark Kastelic laying a hit at center ice that didn't exactly sit well with AJ Greer, who dropped the gloves and engaged in some fisticuffs to add an extra layer of intensity to the contest early. You can see the fight below.
It proved to be a game-changer for the Panthers. With the adrenaline of the brawl still in the air, Sam Bennett finally lit the lamp, giving Florida the lead. Eetu Luostarinen tacked on a second goal to put the Panthers up 2-0 in quick succession and shifted momentum clearly in their favor.
Down two, the Bruins didn't back down. They began shoving back with some feisty play of their own, and the scuffles cascaded across the ice. Bruins forward Trent Frederic even challenged Florida star Matthew Tkachuk to a fight, though Tkachuk declined, preferring to keep the focus on the game itself. As things started to get nastier, one thing became clear: this was a rivalry between the two teams, courtesy of the contentious playoff series last year, that would not be thawing anytime soon.
As the game wore on, the Bruins fought their way back to a 2-1 deficit, setting up a frenetic finish. Though they failed to completely wrestle back the momentum of the game, Boston's heightened physicality and desperation pushed them within striking distance during an eventful beginning to the new season. Unfortunately for the Bruins, they did collapse further towards the end of the period, resulting in a 4-1 deficit after the first period of the new season.
