“I would pay money to watch any of those games,” the Panthers coach said before Tuesday’s 22nd meeting, a 6-4 Florida win in the season opener for both clubs.

I bet Maurice would have used his credit card for a ticket here too. But that’s only because his Stanley Cup champs dominated, not because it was an instant classic.

This was clearly a one-way street, as the Panthers benefited from the energy of a frenzied crowd that had just watched the franchise’s first championship banner being hoisted on the roof of a building they were attempting to blow down.

Oh, the Bruins took the fight to the Panthers, but the hosts had little interest in fielding their Dukes, save for AJ Greer, who dueled Mark Kastelic in the first period.

However, Florida agitators Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett were perfectly content to turn the other cheek rather than get punched in the face.

Despite his talent and toughness, Tkachuk has no interest in a fair fight. Oh, he’ll challenge David Pastrnak like he did in the playoffs last year and again on Tuesday night, but if someone with a slightly more combative background comes along, he’s not interested.

Frederic tried several times during the game to get to Tkachuk, his fellow St. Louis native, but was unsuccessful.

In the first period, Frederic said, Tkachuk agreed to fight him but then refused to drop his gloves – an obvious ploy to entice Frederic to be punished for dropping his gloves.

“I didn’t know people did that,” Frederic said. “I think it’s kind of disrespectful to the game. These are my thoughts.”

After Bennett put Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in his place a split second after Florida’s final goal, it looked like a donnybrook might erupt. Instead, Bennett covered up as several Bruins, including Mason Lohrei, tried to get to him.

At the same time, Tkachuk declined Frederic’s invitations during a scrum behind Korpisalo’s net.

Lots of yapping. No slapping.

Nikita Zadorov also tried to attack Tkachuk and Bennett, but couldn’t get them to take the bait and ended up incurring two minor penalties.

Zadorov was hit with a crosscheck penalty on Tkachuk when Tkachuk targeted Pastrnak, and later the big defender hit Bennett after Bennett tackled Korpisalo.

“It’s the game within the game,” Zadorov said of Florida’s no-fly policy. “It’s not frustrating. That is the reality.

“If you talk about my situation, I felt like Tkachuk was going against Pasta, so I have to be the middleman, I have to be in between and protect my best player. And I thought Bennett ran our goalie, and I didn’t like that either, and I let him know about it.”

Like Maurice, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery knows the history behind this rivalry. The Panther agitators’ strategy did not surprise him.

“They are a smart, disciplined team,” Montgomery said. “They know what they’re doing and unfortunately they beat us in that part of the game.”

The next chapter in this history book comes Monday afternoon at TD Garden.

“It should be fun at our rink,” said Frederic.

Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.