Bruins Get Win in Home Opener
The Boston Bruins came into Saturday night’s home opener having garnered six of a possible eight points in their season-starting four-game road trip against Western Conference teams. Chemistry looked like it was improving with each game, but would they be able to focus from the first puck drop after the added hype of the home opener introductions?
The answer was yes.
In fact, some of their strongest shifts were in the first period against the New Jersey Devils. In hockey terms, the Bruins started the game on time. And by the first intermission they had two even strength goals to show for it. The first was from the Bruins’ top line—well, two-thirds of it—as Brad Marchand notched his fourth goal of the young season on a pass from David Pastrnak. Joakim Nordstrom gave Boston a little wiggle room when, eight minutes later, he got his first of the season assisted by Chris Wagner and Sean Kuraly.
The second period saw the Devils trying to tilt the ice in their favor. With the help of a couple of power plays, New Jersey was putting a few more shots on Tuukka Rask. Rask stayed strong in net, denying all attempts from the Devils, continuing his confident play both in net and puck management to his teammates.
“I thought their start was excellent. I thought we finished really well. In between, we had some moments where we could have been better. We’re still working on our game, like every other team, and I thought that’s where Tuukka [Rask] really stepped up and that’s when he should get the credit. In a game like this, I thought that’s when he earned his paycheck tonight. We broke down a lot there; trying to break pucks out and had some loose play. And he was really good,” said Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy.
The Bruins found themselves on the penalty kill twice during the middle frame, but both Patrice Bergeron and Marchand continued to stand tall. The fans especially liked it when Marchand looked almost as though he was toying with the Devils.
“I think what [Bergeron’s and Marchand’s play] does more is deflates the other. If that’s our power play, and I see a team doing that, frustration sets in from the coaching staff; the players on the ice are frustrated and so I think it more demoralizes the opposition than it does to lift us up,” said Coach Cassidy.
As the middle frame was down to less than a minute remaining and having withstood the Devils power play, Bergeron got his first goal of the season just 15 seconds into a Bruins power play giving the Bruins a three-goal lead and sending the Devils to the second intermission with that knowledge.
While it wasn’t a perfect game for the Bruins, they got did get secondary scoring and strong goaltending when it was needed. Undoubtedly they will concentrate on those areas of their game that allowed the Devils to think they could get back into the game. However, the game definitely hinted to what the Bruins are expecting of themselves throughout this season. They will make no excuses for their short off-season and continue to make the critical plays and stops, holding each player accountable.
