Boston Bruins: Kevan Miller sent early message against the Devils

In Thursday nights season-opening, 3-2, shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils, there was some talk after the game about Devils forward Miles Wood being called twice for interference penalties for making contact with Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask.

The Bruins responded in-game the best way they could by scoring both of their goals in the game by Brad Marchand and Nick Ritchie on those two ensuing power plays. Regardless, in a shortened season, it’s no secret that the Bruins need Rask and they need him healthy. We saw in the Toronto playoff bubble what happened when the full-time duties were turned over the Jaroslav Halak.

With the Zdeno Chara presence no longer around after the 43-year-old signed a free-agent deal with the Washington Capitals on Dec. 30, teams are going to see how the Bruins respond to them crashing the net on a nightly basis.

Miller sends a message on the first shift.

It did not take long for the Bruins to send a message to the Devils that they were not happy with what Wood did twice in Thursday’s game. On the game’s opening shift, Kevan Miller found Wood behind the Boston net with a check and two ended up dropping the gloves just 19 seconds into the game.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1350505479445819392

Miller played his first game in the NHL in 21 months on Thursday night after he injured his kneecap in the playoffs in April of 2019. He underwent four surgeries on the knee and also went through extensive rehabilitation to work his way on the ice.

When general manager Don Sweeney re-signed Miller on the first day of free agency in October, some people we left scratching their head about the move. Miller answered any questions people had in training camp by having a strong camp and getting the final right-handed shot on defense.

Thursday night he showed that he still will bring the physical presence he had before the injury and on Saturday, he took over the Chara role by sending a message in the first minute of the game that the Bruins were not happy and won’t be happy with teams crashing into their goaltenders.