Why Bruins’ Trent Frederic said Matthew Tkachuk was being ‘disrespectful to the game’

"I think he said, 'Let's go.' I guess he wasn't talking about fighting."

The Bruins and Panthers aren’t exactly on the best terms.

Such is the result of heated battles in the playoffs, with Florida bouncing the Bruins out of Stanley Cup contention in back-to-back seasons.

Given the sour sentiment shared between both teams, Trent Frederic was looking to dole out some punishment against Matthew Tkachuk and the rest of the Panthers during Tuesday’s season opener in Sunrise, Florida.

Be it Tkachuk’s prickly disposition on the ice, his fight with Bruins star David Pastrnak in May, or his central role in shattering Boston’s record-setting season in 2022-23, Frederic had a bone to pick with Florida’s power forward.

Early in the first period, Frederic dropped the gloves while getting tangled up with Tkachuk. The Panthers wing did not not oblige, keeping his mitts on amid a fracas that spilled out on the ice at Amerant Bank Arena.

While Tkachuk escaped the scrum unscathed, Frederic was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for shaking off his gloves in search of a scrap.

The Bruins can attest to Tkachuk’s reputation as a fly in the ointment, especially when it comes to goading them into unnecessary penalties.

But Tuesday’s encounter drew the ire of Frederic following Boston’s 6-4 loss, with the Bruins forward telling reporters that it was Tkachuk who said he wanted to fight.

“Yeah, because [Tkachuk] said ‘Yeah’ and he didn’t,” Frederic said when asked if he was surprised Tkachuk didn’t fight him. “ So it’s kind of hard when someone says — he actually asked me [to fight], because I was asking him and he didn’t. So it’s hard to read that.”

“He was trying to sucker you into dropping the gloves?” Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald asked.

“Yeah, I guess. I didn’t know people did that,” Frederic responded. “I think that’s kind of — it’s a little disrespectful to the game. My thoughts.”

“I don’t know if I can’t quote him — but yeah, I think he said, ‘Let’s go.’ I guess he wasn’t talking about fighting,” Frederic later added. “I don’t know.”

It was an emotional night for the Bruins in their latest meeting with the Panthers, with Boston struggling at times to keep their composure. Boston was whistled for eight total penalties in Tuesday’s loss.

Even though those multiple trips to the sin bin didn’t cost Boston (Florida went 0-for-6 on the power play Tuesday), Frederic acknowledged that the Bruins’ focus might been in the wrong areas of the game.

“My mind was probably not in the greatest place for maybe the first game of a hockey [season],” Frederic said. “But I thought the positive there was that we kept pushing back. And I think we just ran out of time. We’ll get them in the next week or so.”

The Bruins are set to host the Panthers in a rematch at TD Garden on Monday afternoon.