The Boston Bruins open their Centennial season against former Bruins Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno with the Chicago Blackhawks. Here are line updates and what Jim Montgomery and Brad Marchand have to say leading up to opening night.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – The regular season is finally here.
The Boston Bruins welcome the Chicago Blackhawks – who opened their season with a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday – to TD Garden as the puck officially drops on their Centennial season.
“Every year, jitters, excitement,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said about opening night. “It’s just normal.”
The team is hosting a “Rafters Reunion” ceremony before the game, which will start with Bruins alumni walking down a gold carpet to kick off the milestone year.
On the ice, the Bruins will provide the first real glimpse at what they can bring this season. Here’s how they lined up at Wednesday morning’s skate:
Brad Marchand - Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk
James van Riemsdyk - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Matt Poitras - Morgan Geekie
Milan Lucic - John Beecher - Jakub Lauko
Danton Heinen/Patrick Brown
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Kevin Shattenkirk
Ian Mitchell
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
First Power Play Unit:
Van Riemsdyk
Pastrnak-Zacha-Marchand
McAvoy
Second Power Play Unit:
Geekie
Shattenkirk-Poitras-DeBrusk
Lindholm
In preparation for Wednesday’s matchup, Montgomery said he watched the first two periods of Chicago’s win on Tuesday and was impressed with what he saw.
“They played fast,” he said. “I thought they were really mobile on [defense]. I thought that they took away time and space well.”
At the same time, Montgomery noticed in both the Chicago-Pittsburgh and Nashville-Tampa Bay games that every team is shaking off early season rust, which he’s hoping his team can avoid.
“There was more breakdowns than you usually see, both ways. You can see special teams matter early in the year, like Tampa Bay really had an advantage with their power play,” Montgomery said.
The two Bruins training camp surprises – Matt Poitras and Johnny Beecher – are each slated to make their NHL debuts on Wednesday as the two ‘bottom six’ centers.
Montgomery said he talked to both players during Tuesday’s practice, and the message was simple.
“It’s just: ‘Welcome to the NHL,’” he said. “You dream your whole life of trying to get here. You’re here, now go out and enjoy the moment. Play to what makes you– why you made the team. Play to those strengths.”
Added Bruins captain Brad Marchand: “You just gotta let them feel it out. There’s not a whole lot of difference between that last [preseason] game that we had. That was a full roster in New York, but there'll be some extra excitement for tonight. But they seem to be handling everything really well, and they’re good pros already at a young age, so I’m excited for them.”
As the Bruins welcome two new faces to the NHL, the Blackhawks bring in two familiar faces in Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno, who were traded to Chicago on June 26 in exchange for Mitchell and defenseman Alec Regula.
Foligno scored a goal and an assist for Chicago on Tuesday, and Hall had two shots on goal. Both Montgomery and Marchand explained how impactful those two players were to the team last season.
“Both incredible teammates and guys,” Marchand said. “Watching the game last night, they will have a lot of opportunity over there. They're gonna thrive in that dressing room and on that team, but we definitely miss them in here."
After spending much of last season as an ‘overqualified’ third-line wing for Boston, Hall is now playing on Chicago’s top line with rookie phenom Connor Bedard, who tallied an assist and recorded five shots on goal on Tuesday.
“[Hall] obviously gave us incredible mismatches on the third line, when we had him there,” Montgomery said. “And just how flexible he was, being able to move up and play with any line in the ‘top nine,’ and how good a teammate he was.”
As Hall, Foligno, Bedard and the Blackhawks try to spoil the Bruins Centennial season-opener, follow along with @Joe_Poho and @bellefraser1 for Bruins-Blackhawks coverage on Wednesday night for The Hockey News.