The Boston Bruins (1-0-0) take on their first Eastern Conference opponent of the season, traveling to Pennsylvania to play the Philadelphia Flyers (1-0-1) on Wednesday.
Boston looked exceptional in its season opener, defeating the Dallas Stars 3-1 last Saturday to open the season with a win. Brad Marchand collected two goals in the victory and rookie Jeremy Swayman was fantastic in net, stopping 27 of 28 shots he faced. He’ll get the nod again on Wednesday night against the Flyers.
Last season, the Bruins and the Flyers played in the East Division together, so both teams are quite familiar with each other. However, it was Boston that handled Philadelphia was relative ease, winning six of the eight matches between the two.
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TV: TNT
"Bruins projected linesMarchand-Bergeron-PastrnakHall-Coyle-SmithDeBrusk-Haula-FolignoFrederic-Nosek-Kuhlman Forbort-McAvoyReilly-CarloGrzelcyk-Clifton SwaymanUllmark"
"Flyers projected linesGiroux-Couturier-KonecnyFarabee-Brassard-AtkinsonLindblom-Laughton-van RiemsdykAube-Kubel-Thompson-MacEwen Provorov-EllisSanheim-RistolainenYandle-Braun JonesHart"
The Flyers are coming off a 6-1 smacking of the Seattle Kraken on Monday. Derrick Brassard had a goal and two assists as he was one of 11 Flyers to register a point in the matchup. Philadelphia previously lost in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks in a shaky start to the season for Carter Hart, but he bounced back with the win earlier in the week.
However, it won’t be Hart in net against the Bruins on Wednesday. Martin Jones gets the nod in his first start as a member of the Flyers. He signed a one-year deal this offseason with previous backup Brian Elliott heading down to Tampa.
Jones is technically a former Bruin, having spent a whopping five days with the organization int he summer of 2015. He was a part of the Milan Lucic trade to the Los Angeles Kings, but was flipped days later to the San Jose Sharks.
There will be no changes for the Bruins on Wednesday, with the same lineup and goaltender as the season opener against Dallas. It makes sense considering the performance last Saturday. Linus Ullmark will have to wait until Friday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, as Cassidy announced he will be going against his former team for his first start as a Bruin.
Philadelphia’s offense has looked strong to start this season, with 10 goals scored in just two games. But Jones had an extremely shaky season last year and if the Bruins’ offense shows up tonight like it did last game, Jones and the Flyers are in for a long night.