Causeway gameday! Nashville Predators at Boston Bruins 10/5/17

The NHL regular season officially opened last night.  However, does the season technically even start if the Boston Bruins haven’t played yet?  Well, that all changes tonight.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boston Bruins regular season hockey is here at last!  It’s been 6 long months since the boys in Black and Gold played a meaningful hockey game.  A new year brings new hopes and expectations with it.  And it all starts with Game #1.

There was a significant amount of uncertainty during this offseason for Boston.  The David Pastrnak contract dispute had all the makings of another front office disaster.  Ryan Spooner had to file for salary arbitration due to a $2 million difference in opinion as to his value.  Young players were stepping up and making a case for NHL roster spots.

But the past is the past, and tonight, the offseason is over.  Into Boston comes the defending Western Conference champion, Nashville Predators.

Schedule

The tilt tonight between the Predators and the Bruins takes place at 7:00 pm at the TD Garden in Boston, MA.  The game will be televised locally on NESN and on 100.7 WZLX for radio listeners.

What to watch for

Patrice Bergeron and David Backes are both questionable to play in tonight’s season opener.  Torey Krug is still recovering from his fractured jaw.  That could be potentially three veteran leaders out for the Bruins.

With a roster that already features two rookies in Anders Bjork and Jake DeBrusk, any absence by lineup mainstays could be a huge blow to the team’s chance of success tonight.  However, the young players performed incredibly well during the preseason.  Most notably, in the final game against the Chicago Blackhawks which featured nearly their entire NHL roster, a Bruins team of half AHLers held the ‘Hawks to a 1-0 score.

But, to be the best, you’ve gotta beat the best.  Nashville came up a bit short last season, and lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  But much of the team that made their playoff run last season returns this year, so there stands a good chance that Nashville will still be a solid team.

Nashville won many of their games last season by having arguably the best top-4 defensive pairings in the NHL in P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi, and Mattias Ekholm.  Unfortunately for the Preds, Ellis is lost for the first few months of the season due to knee surgery.  Missing him could open up the ice a bit more for the Bruins and other teams while he’s out.  It also may have taken Nashville out of the running for Matt Duchene.

Nashville also packs a pretty nifty scoring punch with forwards Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, Victor Arvidsson, and Kevin Fiala.  If Bergeron does in fact miss the game tonight, it will be interesting to see who, if anyone, can slow down the Preds.

Next: Bruins early morning ice 10/5/17

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Battle for Finland between goaltenders Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne.  Here’s an SAT question for you:  Finland is to goalies, as Dunkin’ Donuts is to coffee on a cold Boston morning.  Both of these goalies are players who can steal a game from the clutches of defeat.  Wouldn’t surprise me if this game went to overtime at zero-zero.