Boston Bruins: Top 5 games to get pumped up about in October
The Boston Bruins start the season with some tough match-ups. Will they be up to the task?
After a tough finish last year, the Boston Bruins start the 2019-2020 season with high expectations .
Boston welcomes some new faces to the club. Par Lindholm joins from the Winnipeg Jets; he looks set for a bottom-six role, but he could fill in for the injured David Krejci or Joakin Nordstrom in the opening games.
Brett Ritchie is another new addition and Boston Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy could give Ritchie a spot in the lineup to start the season.
The Bruins, however, begin the new season with pretty much the same roster as last year. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak again will lead the offense. Krejci and Charlie Coyle provide secondary scoring, while Torey Krug will chip in from the backend.
Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, both fresh off new contracts, anchor the defense alongside Zdeno Chara, and Tuukka Rask will split time in goal with Jaroslav Halak.
The Bruins jump right into the new season with 12 total games in October. Boston starts with a four-game road trip that features three likely playoff teams – the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche.
After the home opener against the New Jersey Devils, the Boston Bruins will be welcoming the likes of the St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs to the TD Garden.
Boston’s October schedule is far from easy, but we’ll learn a lot about the team so early in the season.
October 3rd: at Dallas Stars
Everybody looks forward to opening night. Boston opens up October 3 in Dallas against the Stars. Both games against the Stars went to overtime last year. The Bruins won the first game 2-1 but lost the second 1-0.
Dallas has lofty expectations after a strong season last year. The Stars only finished fourth in the Central, but they defeated Nashville in the first round. Dallas then lost a hard-fought seven game series to St. Louis.
The Stars boast an impressive group of forwards. Old friend Tyler Seguin is back as the team’s top scorer, and he partners with Alex Radulov and Jamie Benn up front. They’ll see a heavy dose of McAvoy and Chara.
Dallas added veterans Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry this offseason. Pavelski signed a $21 million deal, while Perry signed for one year after Anaheim bought him out.
Dallas also has a number of talented defensemen that will test Boston’s forwards. John Klinberg, Miro Heiskanen, and Esa Lindell are all mobile and capable of big minutes. Each had at least 30 points last year.
Marchand and Pastrnak need to get off to a fast start against the Stars. The Bruins only scored two goals in two games against Dallas last season. They’ll need to find the back of the net in game one of the season.
October 12th: versus New Jersey Devils
After they sit through a couple home openers as the away team, the Bruins enjoy their own opener on the 12th against the Devils. Boston won its last three home openers, including a win over New Jersey in 2016.
Boston started its home schedule with offensive fireworks last season. The Bruins scored 16 goals in their first three home games. They’ll look to start the same way against New Jersey.
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No team improved this offseason like the Devils. New Jersey won the draft lottery and picked future franchise center Jack Hughes. Hughes still has room to grow, but he already has the tools to make an immediate impact.
New Jersey also traded for defenseman P.K. Subban. Subban’s always a fan favorite in Boston, but this time he’ll wear a friendlier color of red. Subban will help a New Jersey power play that struggled last year.
Most importantly, the Devils start the season with a healthy Taylor Hall. Hall averaged over a point per game in limited time last year. Expect the Bruins to match Chara and McAvoy against Hall’s line.
Boston won two of its three meetings with New Jersey last season. After a busy offseason, the Devils present a much tougher test this year.
October 17th: versus Tampa Bay Lightning
Boston’s biggest test of the young season happens October 17 against Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay finished first in the Atlantic last season with 128 points, 21 points clear of the Bruins. However, after a record-setting regular season, Tampa bowed out in four games to Columbus.
The Lightning return with a stacked roster that will challenge Boston all season. Nikita Kucherov, fresh off an MVP season, leads the way. Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point join Kucherov up front.
Tampa has depth on the backend as well with Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Mikhail Sergachev. Plus, the Lightning added Kevin Shattenkirk as a low risk, high reward signing.
Boston finished 1-3 Tampa last year. The Boston Bruins struggled to contain the Lightning offense; Tampa scored 15 goals in four games. We’ll see early on if the McAvoy and company can do a better job in front of Tuukka Rask.
If the Bruins want to return to the final, they will need to get past Tampa at some point. October 17 will be the first real measuring stick. Expect the Lightning to play with a chip on their shoulder all season after last year’s debacle.
October 19th: at Toronto Maple Leafs
The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs must be tired of each other at this point. They met 11 more times last year after 11 matchups the year before. Boston won 12 of these 22 games, including eight playoff wins over two series.
Let’s face it: Boston and Toronto appear set to meet in the first round for the third year in a row. What remains to be seen, however, is which team earns home ice.
With home ice likely on the line, these head to head matchups with Toronto are so important. The Bruins don’t want to give Toronto an early advantage in the season series.
The October 19 matchup gives Boston its first crack at Toronto’s new-look defense. Toronto brought in the likes of Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci over the summer. Barrie is a big name who should eat up some important minutes for the Leafs.
It’ll be interesting to see if someone like Barrie can do a decent job against the Bergeron line. Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak dominated the Leafs over the past two years. Pastrnak himself had nine points in the four regular season games last year.
Unfortunately, this Bruins-Leafs matchup will be less exciting since Toronto waved goodbye to Jake Gardiner and Nazem Kadri. Gardiner was always good for a few turnovers, while nobody riled up Boston’s stars like Kadri.
October 26th: versus St. Louis Blues
Boston welcomes the Blues in a game that will certainly bring up some bad memories. This will be the first time the teams meet since last year’s heartbreaking Game 7.
This game will be emotional, but it will teach us a lot about Boston’s mental state as we move through the season. Will the Boston Bruins be able to move past last year’s demons? A dominant victory against the Blues won’t change last year, but it can springboard the team this year.
Beyond that, keep a close eye on Boston’s top line against St. Louis’s defense. The Bergeron line couldn’t generate much offense in the series last year. Marchand and Pastrnak struggled with the physical play and only accounted for three goals.
Maybe by this point Bruce Cassidy will break up the top line and put Pastrnak with Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. This could spread out the offense and give Boston two consistent scoring lines.
The October 26 game against the Blues is the first night of a back-to-back, but expect Rask to get the nod in net.
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October is always one of the most exciting months of the year and looking at the Boston Bruins’ schedule, it’s certainly shaping up to be one that gives us a telling insight.