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The new-look Boston Bruins will begin their season with two major holes on the blue line. Following an offseason headlined by the departure of Dougie Hamilton, both Dennis Seidenberg (back surgery) and Zdeno Chara (upper-body) will be on the shelf for Boston’s season-opening affair with the Winnipeg Jets tonight at TD Garden, putting Claude Julien to work right away.
“Well we’ve dealt with that before. We dealt with that last year,… Julien said of a sans Chara roster, something they experience for 19 games in 2014-15. “You have to deal with those situations. And again my preoccupation can’t be about what I’m missing, but what I’ve got and what I’ve got tonight I think is good enough for us to win a hockey game. All we have to do is go out there and show it.…
With Chara and Seidenberg out of the mix, Boston’s top-pairing is now their third-pairing from a year ago, as Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid will skate as Boston’s No. 1 and 2 defensemen. It’s a tall task for the pair, and doesn’t get much easier if you're a believer in experience as Kevan Miller and Joe Morrow suit up on the second pair, with Matt Irwin and Zach Trotman on the third pair.
But on Opening Night, the excitement’s there no matter the roster you’re dealt.
“I think everybody’s excited. You know when you go through training camp and you play those preseason games and then finally at the end of I guess preseason you see you’re still here and you have an opportunity to play for this organization,… said Julien. “I think it’s great for the players, it’s great for us and coaches to get the season started. We’ve put in a lot of work and a lot of time and now we want to I guess get the show on the road and tonight’s going to be an exciting night for everybody.…
In the lineup, the Bruins will have five skaters making their debut with the club in Irwin, Matt Beleskey, Jimmy Hayes, Joonas Kemppainen, and Zac Rinaldo.
“It’s been a good three-plus weeks where we’ve been able to kind of work individually as a group, as a line, with different players and different personalities,… said Julien. “And everything right now, we’re pleased with it - we’re optimistic and we just have to let things work themselves out too.…
There’s not a single constant from last season’s lines, either, as Beleskey will skate with the Bruins’ Czech Daves in Krejci and Pastrnak, while Loui Eriksson will join the Bergeron-Marchand combination. Center Ryan Spooner will be in the middle of Hayes and Brett Connolly, while Kemppainen will center a fourth line featuring Chris Kelly and one of Rinaldo or Max Talbot on the right side.
They’ll go up against a Jets squad that comes into the year riding the high of the organization’s first non-Atlanta trip to the postseason since returning to Winnipeg. (Before that, Winnipeg had last tasted the postseason in 1996, in the Jets’ final season before relocating to Phoenix -- or Arizona.)
“I think they have some young kids but they have some good talent too, those young players coming in,… Julien said of the Jets following today’s morning skate in Boston. “They’re still fast, they’re still a good size team and I think they’re a team that’s going to be extremely respected this year because of the growth that’s come from that group over the last few years.…
The Bruins and Jets split last year’s head-to-head, with each club protecting home ice.
For the first start of the season, the Jets turn to Ondrej Pavelec in net. Following a 2-0-1, .921 save percentage preseason, Pavelec is set for his 17th career game against the Bruins. He’ll look for some better luck against the B’s, too, as he enters tonight’s contest with just five wins and a .911 save percentage in 16 career contests against the club. Pavelec did not play the Bruins last year.
The Bruins will counter with Tuukka Rask. Following last year’s frustrating 34-win, 70-game season in which Rask posted a career-low (as a starter, anyways) .922 save percentage, the Finnish sensation looks to come roaring out of the gate for the Black and Gold. The 28-year-old has nine wins (including two shutouts) and a .933 save percentage in 14 career games against the Jets/Thrashers.
Stats of Note
- B’s winger Loui Eriksson has three goals and six points in eight career games against Winnipeg.
- Just five of Torey Krug’s 12 goals last season came at TD Garden.
- David Krejci has four goals and 18 points in 23 career games versus the Jets.
- Former Bruin Blake Wheeler has four goals and eight points in 12 games against his former club.
- Six of Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd’s 24 goals in 2014-15 were game-winning strikes.
Other news and notes
Talbot, waived earlier this week, is back with the club and listed on their 23-man roster. He or Rinaldo will be the odd man out on the B’s fourth line tonight. One of them will join forward Tyler Randell and defenseman Colin Miller as Boston’s healthy scratches tonight. Chara and Seidenberg, obviously, remain out of action for the Bruins, while Seth Griffith (knee) remains sidelined, too.
It’s a return to the NHL for the Jets’ Alex Burmistrov.
Drafted with the 8th overall pick in 2010, Burmistrov ditched Winnipeg for the KHL in 2013, and spent two seasons with Ak-Bars Kazan. In the KHL, Burmistrov tallied 20 goals and 63 points in 108 games, and returns to the Jets with a spot on their third line with Adam Lowry and winger Drew Stafford. Burmistrov has scored 23 goals and 58 points in 194 games at the National Hockey League level.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com