Montgomery: ‘No question’ Panthers are Bruins’ biggest rival right now originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON – The Bruins have had many great rivalries throughout their 100-year history as an NHL franchise.

Their most hated rival of all time is of course the Montreal Canadiens. These two Original Six teams have faced each other in the playoffs an astonishing 34 times and many memorable moments have emerged from those encounters.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are also big rivals, especially considering their four playoff series against the B’s since 2013, including last season’s overtime thriller in Game 7.

But with the Canadiens not being very competitive for much of the last decade and not having a playoff series against the B’s since 2014, this rivalry has lost some of its luster. And while the Bruins-Leafs rivalry has been pretty exciting lately, it’s also been one-sided, with Boston winning all four of the aforementioned playoff series.

So who is the Bruins’ main rival right now? It’s the Florida Panthers.

“No question,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters before Monday’s game against the Panthers at TD Garden.

“They beat us two years in a row. They won the cup. They reached the cup final. They are the class of the NHL until they get beat. If you want to do well in this league, you did this.” to go through them.

Montgomery is absolutely right.

The Panthers are the team that everyone in the league – and especially in the Eastern Conference – is following.

The Bruins lost to the Panthers in seven games in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and last season Florida emerged victorious in a six-game series in the second round.

These two teams don’t like each other one bit. In fact, if you were to rank the most entertaining and physical games of the last two seasons (including the playoffs), the list would be full of Bruins-Panthers matchups.

This rivalry has also created the most hated villain among Boston sports fans right now, and that is Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk. He doesn’t just get under the opponent’s skin, he fights and scores goals. In many ways, he is the perfect hockey villain.

The Bruins have had numerous successes against the Panthers in the regular season over the last two seasons, but they have not had success in the playoffs. And if the B’s want to get to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2019, they will almost certainly have to get past the Panthers to do so.