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A year ago, what ended as a 2-1 win in favor of the Black and Gold on Thursday night, led by
Patrice Bergeron’s goal with just 1:15 left in the third period, finds a way to get away from the Bruins.
Especially at home. But the Boston Bruins are a different team than they were a year ago.
“I think that we are all disappointed with our record here last year and it was important to get off to a good start,” Bruins coach
Claude Julien said after the win. “You know you want the fans to come and watch well you have to give them a reason to do that and you got to pay the price and play some exciting hockey and show that you are competing hard. This is a fanbase that loves players that compete hard and get their nose to the grind and that’s what we needed to do tonight.”
In what was a relatively listless opening 40 minutes of play, the Bruins and Devils traded few chances each way, but it was a night that clearly going to be decided by the play of two of the world’s best at what they do, New Jersey Devils netminder Cory Schneider and B’s goaltender Tuukka Rask.
The Devils’ best chance during the scoreless back and forth came three minutes and change into the third period, when
Taylor Hall somehow missed an empty net, though his shot appeared somewhat helped by a last second nudge by B’s captain
Zdeno Chara. But Hall was redeemed, as
Kyle Palmieri struck less than a minute later, on a New Jersey power play with Bergeron in the box, and jumped the Devils out to a 1-0 lead 4:14 into the third period on Garden ice.
But the Bruins responded at the 9:47 mark of the third period, as Brad Marchand shot a wicked wrist shot through New Jersey d-man
Andy Greene’s legs and up over Schneider for a 1-1 tie.
“I mean it was a heck of a shot,” Schneider said of the goal. “It went through [Greene]’s legs, you know I caught most of it, but you know it hit off my stick a little bit and I don’t know if it was going in anyways or if it deflected in a little bit. But, it was a heck of a shot you know on the move, through a D-man’s legs. Not many guys can do that shot so, the credit to him on that shot.”
With momentum on their side, the B’s continued to pour the pressure on Schneider, and broke through with just 75 seconds left in the game, off Bergeron’s stick and a great play (and secondary assist) from some hard work courtesy of Bergeron’s newest linemate,
David Pastrnak.
“I feel like I’m repeating myself when I say that he is a much more confident, stronger individual and he is certainly even understanding the game even more,” Julien said of Pastrnak. “The hope plays have diminished quite a bit and it’s more about making strong plays and making the right plays.”
The assist gave Pastrnak points in all four games this season, with four goals and seven points overall.
Rask finished the game with stops on 28-of-29 New Jersey shots thrown his way, and with 90 saves on 95 shots against in three games, bumped his season save percentage up to a stellar .947.
The Bruins now boast a 47-23-20-1 all-time record in home openers.
Random thoughts and notes
- Defenseman
Joe Morrow made his season debut for the Black and Gold on Thursday night on the second-pairing that featured
Torey Krug playing the right side (something Krug did a lot with the Providence Bruins, but not too, too much with the big club). And in 16:08 of time on ice, the 23-year-old Morrow came through with one shot on goal, two hits, and a plus-1 rating.
Julien has often talked about the need for Morrow, who was honestly Boston’s best defenseman many nights throughout the preseason, to develop some consistency in his game, and in a simplified role on a puck-moving pairing that really helped the Bruins push pace the other way, Morrow was just that.
“I felt like it was really good,” Morrow said of his game. “Just trying to keep it simple and once that happens you have to go shift-to-shift and not think about it too much, so that’s really all there is to it. It’s a simple game when you play it like that, but now it’s got to be game-to-game consistency.”
- B’s forward
Ryan Spooner was a scratch for this one. That is, well, kinda weird. Spooner has been anything but dominant in his shift from center to the wing, with one assist and seven shots on goal in three games, but it’s still been just three games in an unfamiliar position, and with Austin Czarnik returned to Providence, there was (theoretically) a spot to be had on Boston’s third line for Spooner. (You know, the spot he played pretty darn well for all of last season.) Instead, the Bruins continued to roll with Riley Nash as their third-line center between Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes, while Tim Schaller got another crack with Noel Acciari and Dom Moore on the Bruins’ fourth line.
Spooner has been in Julien’s doghouse before, but the timing of this benching does seem a little bizarre, because a Nash-centered third line is a line like a Chainsmokers catalogue (all bangers), which is basically another physicality-based checking line with little scoring presence (like the fourth line), and it’s especially unusual given how impressive the Spooner-Krejci-Backes line looked in the preseason.
It will be interesting to see how Spooner, who recorded 13 goals and 49 points a year ago, and in the final year of a contract with a modest $950,000 salary and a restricted free agent next summer (with arbitration rights), fits back into the mix when the Bruins put him back in the lineup.
- The Boston power play finished the night with an 0-for-4 mark to their name, and are now just 1-for-14 on the man advantage this season. The absence of Bergeron, who plays the ‘bumper’ role on their first power-play unit, for the club’s first three games is an obvious factor for their struggles out of the gate, but it will be interesting to see just how the power play progresses. It may be worth noting, too, that the Devils entered played an impressive 9-for-10 on the penalty kill. They’re now 13-for-14.
The Podcast to be Named Later, EP 201: All Downhill From Here
Hey, Andy Merritt of the New England Hockey Journal and myself have been renewed for a second season! Here’s the first episode of the new season of our podcast, touching on the B’s home opener victory over the Devils, expectations for this team, an over/under, and our favorite 90s goalies.
Up next
The Bruins return to the Garden on Saturday night for a rivalry showdown with the Montreal Canadiens. It will be the first of four head-to-heads between the Bruins and Habs this season, and first since hated-but-respected Habs defenseman P.K. Subban was swapped for Nashville’s Shea Weber this past summer. The Bruins won just two of their five contests against the Canadiens last season.
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 • 
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