Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
The Boston Bruins are glad to be back home. Something they rarely, if ever, felt last season.
In what was another frustrating year across the board for the Bruins last year, the Bruins ranked 26th at home, with just 17 wins and 40 points in 41 home games. But with a clean slate on Garden ice, and with a 2-1-0 record on their three-game road trip, including a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, the Bruins are ready to set the tone in tonight’s home opener against the New Jersey Devils.
“Last year has nothing to do this year,” B’s winger
Brad Marchand said after the club’s morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton. “We got a lot of new guys, lot of new faces, and we’re looking at a big start at home and having a big year, so we’ll try to start that tonight.”
The Bruins will get a boost up front, too, as
Patrice Bergeron will make his season debut and return to the Boston lineup after a three-game absence with a lower-body injury. Bergeron, who led the team with 68 points last year (his most since a 70-point campaign in 2006-07), will be in his normal spot as the center on the club’s first line, between Marchand and
David Pastrnak.
“He’s regarded as one of the best players in the league,” Julien said of Bergeron and his return to the team. “When you go three games without him and see him coming back it’s a lift to everybody.”
Bergeron’s return will drop
David Backes down to the second line as David Krejci’s go-to winger opposite
Danton Heinen, while
Riley Nash will center Boston’s third line between Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes. Local boy Tim Schaller, who recorded an assist in Boston’s win over the Jets, will continue to skate on the fourth line with Dom Moore and Noel Acciari.
The Bruins won two of three head-to-heads with the Devils last season.
In Net: Cory Schneider vs. Tuukka Rask
The Devs are expected to give this start to Marblehead, Mass., native Cory Schneider. The 30-year-old Schneider was dynamite in his last appearance, a 23-of-24 win against the Anaheim Ducks, and comes into play with one win and a .935 save percentage in three contests this year. The former Boston College star has one win and a .918 save percentage in six career games against the Bruins.
Fresh off a sensational road game against Winnipeg, Boston counters with
Tuukka Rask. In a night in which Rask stopped 34-of-35 shots, and recorded two assists no less, the Finnish netminder comes into tonight’s tilt with a .939 save percentage (62 saves on 66 shots) in two games played. Rask has four wins and a .944 save percentage in eight career starts against the Devils.
Other news and notes
With Bergeron back, the Bruins are expected to sit
Ryan Spooner as a healthy scratch.
Defenseman
Joe Morrow will draw into the lineup for his first game of the season. The 23-year-old Morrow, a healthy scratch for the first three games, recorded one goal and seven points in 33 games for the Bruins last year, along with 44 shots on goal, 28 hits, and 35 blocked shots.
“When he plays well, he’s a good addition to our team,” Julien said of Morrow. “You’re looking for consistency from game to game. The sharpness and the compete level are important aspects of playing in the NHL and right now he needs both of those to get better.”
First-year pro
Robbie O’Gara will be the healthy scratch in Morrow’s place.
To help make room for Bergeron (and get the player some playing time), the Bruins also sent
Austin Czarnik down to the Providence Bruins. A standout in camp, the 23-year-old Czarnik struggled to regain his footing after a cheapshot delivered by Radko Gudas in the preseason finale, and recorded just one shot on goal and a minus-3 rating in two regular season games upon his return.
Hockey legends Bobby Orr and Milt Schmidt will drop the ceremonial first puck on the new home season for the B’s, while the club also announced that they will designate the jerseys worn at the 2016 Winter Classic as their new alternate jerseys, replacing their old all-black alternate worn since 2008.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can also be read in the New England Hockey Journal magazine. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
Join the Discussion:
»