Boston Bruins Must Watch Games in 2022-23

The Boston Bruins are about to embark on their 98th regular season. The expectations are still high for a team loaded with veteran star power, three seasons removed from a Stanley Cup Final appearance. As the team’s core gets another year older, this upcoming season may have more questions than answers as the Black and Gold chase down their seventh championship.

After a disappointing end to the 2021-22 playoffs at the hands of rival Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins made a handful of changes, with the most impactful one happening behind the bench. After five seasons, former bench boss Bruce Cassidy was let go, and Jim Montgomery took over the reins. Outside of a coaching change, the other newsworthy event occurred when David Krejci returned from Europe after a season away. Krejci reunites with long-time teammates with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2011, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

The NHL regular season is a rollercoaster ride with endless twists and turns. There will never be a perfect season, but that is a record no one is ever chasing. Instead, their focus is solely on hoisting Lord Stanley in the springtime.

As we look into the crystal ball of the 2022-23 Bruins schedule, here is a list of the must-see games you should circle on your calendar.

Any Game Patrice Bergeron Plays In

On Aug. 8, 2022, the captain of the Bruins, Bergeron, returned to the club on a one-year contract. This new deal allows him to continue serving as the team’s longest-tenured player, putting on the spoked B for the first time in 2004. There is no certainty that he will keep playing past this upcoming season, so we should enjoy the ride one more time.

Bergeron will not end up as the franchise’s leading scorer, a place held by Ray Bourque with 1506 points; however, he is only 18 points away from a thousand. When he reaches the milestone, he will become only the fourth player in club history to reach the plateau, alongside John Bucyk (1339), Phil Esposito (1012), and Bourque.

No matter where Bergeron ends up on the Bruins’ all-time lists, currently second in games played and fourth in goals and assists, he will have a distinction that many of the greats never achieved. Unless he decides to play for another franchise, Bergeron will go down as the greatest player to ever play his entire career with the team.

Oct. 25, 2022, vs. Dallas Stars

On June 30, 2022, the Bruins front office hired former Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery to replace the recently fired Bruce Cassidy. Montgomery takes over for Cassidy, who guided the team to a 245-108-46 record in 399 games over six seasons, which included a heartbreaking Game 7 loss in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

It will be interesting to see how the team responds to a new voice in the room since there are rumors of Cassidy losing the team over his tenure. There won’t be much time to work out all the kinks of the new system before the Stars come to town at the end of October.

Before serving as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues from 2020-2022, Montgomery was the head coach of the Stars, compiling a 61-43-10 record over two seasons in the deep south. His crowning achievement with the franchise was a second-round loss to the Blues in 2019, who would eventually win their first Stanley Cup at TD Garden later that spring.

Nov. 25, 2022, vs. Carolina Hurricanes

The Bruins have a long, storied rivalry with the Carolina Hurricanes since the franchise was once located a two-hour drive on I-84 in Hartford, Connecticut. Although the colors and location have changed, these two teams continue to cross paths as they chase the Prince of Wales Trophy named after the division they once shared in the 1980s and 1990s.

This game is essential because the Bruins have to prove they can compete with last year’s Metropolitan Division champions. In the three regular-season matchups, the Hurricanes destroyed the Bruins, winning 3-0 and outscoring them 16-1. As fate would have it, these two met in the playoffs, with the Hurricanes winning the series 4-3. Overall, the team from Raleigh went 7-3 against the Bruins, outscoring them 40-21 in just ten games.

The Bruins didn’t shake up the roster all that much this summer, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep pace with a team who retooled to stay in contention.

Apr. 6, 2023, vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

In 2021-22 the Maple Leafs were a force to reckon with during the regular season. Auston Matthews not only led the league with 60 goals but skated away with the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP. During the regular season, the Bruins struggled against their rivals from the north, posting a 0-3 record and getting outscored 16-8.

The Maple Leafs were a better team in the regular season, finishing eight points ahead of the Bruins, leaving them to fight for a wild card spot. These head-to-head matchups are essential in the big picture of a long season, where every point counts.

These two teams will meet four times this season; however, this late-season game could have a lot of implications in terms of standings and playoff seedings. If the Bruins are serious about winning, they need to reverse their fortunes from last year.