The last time the Boston Bruins witnessed another team’s Stanley Cup banner raising, they were humiliated by the Washington Capitals, 7-0, in an October 2018 game that Brad Marchand imprinted by beating the snot out of Lars Eller for showboating a pour-it-on goal.
Tuukka Rask was chased on his fifth goal against less than halfway through the game, and Jaro Halak took over, allowing two more.
Remember this should things get ugly tonight in Sunrise: Rask came back to enjoy a banner season, and the Bruins went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Of course, the game matters, the Bruins’ performance matters, but the way that should be measured is in ways other than ones that will be rendered completely forgettable by what transpires over the subsequent 81 plus playoffs.
Here are a few things to focus your attention:
1. The Bruins’ forecheck. The new acquisitions earmarked to heighten the aggression of the bottom six (Mark Kastelic, Max Jones, Cole Koepke, Riley Tufte …), GM Don Sweeney insists he acquired them for their speed and forechecking aggression. They also happen to be big, rangy and capable of causing anxiety for opponents’ puck retrievals. Remember when? As in when Claude Julien’s Bruins used to smartly dump the puck to areas where they could hit defensemen and wear them down over the course of a seven-game series? This ability, a missing element in Boston’s forecheck of recent years, is most relevant during the playoffs. But a strong indicator of whether the Bruins can improve this area of their game and give as good as they get come playoff time is available to viewers beginning tonight in Sunrise.
2. Elias Lindholm’s three-zone acumen. A full season beyond the careers of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the Bruins are once again sturdy at center thanks to the July 1 signing of former Flame/Canuck Elias Lindholm. The newer Lindholm will wear 28 and most likely skate between Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak. Charlie Coyle will do as he did last season and play mostly alongside Brad Marchand; the million-dollar question is how many different right wingers will try out on their line beginning tonight. This is of least concern among unanswered questions. This is an era in which roster flux is normal, especially during the regular season. Matt Poitras played well during training camp but has an injury apparently unrelated to the shoulder surgery that truncated his rookie 2023-24 season. The expectation here is that Morgan Geekie will get the majority of shifts at center unless matchups dictate a left shot as opposed to right on the dot, in which case Trent Frederic becomes the most proven option. Coach Jim Montgomery told Rink Rap during the preseason that these two forwards, Geekie and Frederic, are players he will be slow to assign so as to reserve their services to band-aid lineup holes. To start off the season, Poitras’ unplanned absence makes it two top-nine positions that will influence where Geekie and Frederic slot in. See Fluto Shinzawa’s observations from the warm-up and note that Geekie is slotted at third-line center.
3. Marchand vs. Bennett: If you’re reading this, you probably saw Bennett’s right fist full of hockey stick concuss Marchand at the player benches during last spring’s playoff series. Marchand, knowing Bennett was coming off injury, initiated an aggressive shoulder-to-shoulder as the approached their shift changes, and Bennett by far got the best of the collision with his preemptive strike. Marchand told him in the handshake line not to worry about it. If I’m Bennett, I wouldn’t forget it.
4. Pastrnak vs. Tkachuk: If you’re reading … right, this too. Don’t bet on Pasta trying to hurt the Panthers any other way than on the scoreboard. He had reason for taking on Tkachuk last playoffs, this time it would distract him from his strengths. And the Bruins showed with every successive game of their preseason slate that they don’t need Pasta distracted, they need him creating scoring chances.
OFFICIAL BRUINS OPENING-DAY ROSTER FOR 2024-25 SEASON
Forwards: Johnny Beecher, Justin Brazeau, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie, Max Jones, Mark Kastelic, Cole Koepke, Elias Lindholm, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Riley Tufte, Pavel Zacha.
Defensemen: Brandon Carlo, Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Andrew Peeke, Parker Wotherspoon, Nikita Zadorov.
Goaltenders: Joonas Korpisalo, Jeremy Swayman.
[The team has also designated forward Matt Poitras and defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula as Injured Non-Roster.]
Per Fluto Shinzawa’s post on X during tonight’s warm-up:
Zacha … E. Lindholm … Pastrnak
Marchand … Coyle … Geekie
Jones … Frederic … Brazeau
Beecher … Kastelic … Koepke
H. Lindholm … McAvoy
Lohrei … Carlo
Zadorov … Peeke
Korpisalo start
Swayman backup
Florida Panthers’ official roster: Uvis Balinskis, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Sergei Bobrovsky, Adam Boqvist, Jesper Boqvist, Chris Driedger, Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Entwistle, Gustav Forsling, Jonah Gadjovich, A.J. Greer, Dmitry Kulikov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Mackie Samoskevich, Nate Schmidt, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe.
Injured and/or Non-Roster: Tomas Nosek, Justin Sourdif.
As you can see, there are missing names that were punched onto the barrel of the Stanley Cup, mostly notably Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Vladimir Tarasenko, Steven Lorentz and Ryan Lomberg. All are in other uniforms this season. The price of winning.
Tonight’s ESPN telecast of the Bruins-Panthers season opener will provide many cutaway opportunities, the most of which will feature Swayman sitting at the end of Boston’s bench, a towel around his neck. Normally, goals against feature cutaway shots of the coach of the team that got scored on, tonight whatever gets behind Korpisalo becomes a cutaway to Swayman … paging Taylor Swift …
Now for the fun part …
Best-case scenario for the Bruins: Pastrnak cold-cocks Matthew Tkachuk, sending the Florida bully into Palookaville on national television.
Best-realistic-case scenario for the Bruins: Korpisalo steals two points for the Bruins, who win 2-0 on Frederic’s Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
Worst-case scenario for the Bruins: Offense is anemic, Korpisalo gets chased, Swayman is forced into action prematurely, gets run over by Bennett; Marchand goes after Bennett and gets a broken nose and a broken thumb for his effort.
Wild guess is none of the above happen. The important thing, once again, is that this is, for better or for worse, only one of 82.
Don’t get too high or too low, but learn Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and see if the Bruins can sustain an aggressive forecheck and get some zone time against a team that hemmed them in way too many shifts during the 2023 and ’24 playoffs.
Rink Rap with Mick Colageo 