The Boston Bruins opened their season with a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers at TD Garden and now will hit the road for a pair of games on back-to-back nights against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
As well as the Black and Gold played against the Rangers, there were some players who struggled. As we found out last year, head coach Marco Sturm isn't afraid to send an early-season message to any players with a benching. Here are three Bruins who need to have a better performance against the Jets to get some of the heat off of them.
Elias Lindholm
David Pastrnak and JJ Peterka looked great together. Peterka ended up scoring an insurance goal shortly after Fraser Minten gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead late in the third period. He made a nice move through the legs of New York defenseman Braden Schneider and beat Igor Shesterkin to double the Boston lead.
As good as Pastrnak and Peterka looked, well, the same couldn't be said for center Elias Lindholm. There were times when he was just going through the motions and was invisible. Going into camp, there were questions surrounding whether or not he was the answer as the first-line center, and he didn't come close to answering them.
Sean Kuraly
Like the first line, Boston's fourth line, Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic, played well against New York. Kastelic sealed the win with an empty-net goal, while Jeannot and Kastelic were a pain for the Rangers to play against.
The same couldn't be said for their center, Sean Kurlay. I understand you don't want Matthew Poitras playing as a fourth-line center in the NHL, but with Jeannot and Kastelic out there as his wings protecting him, it would be worth at least something to try when he's ready. Can't be any worse.
James Hagens
Some might think this is an overreaction, and maybe it is, but Hagens struggled at times. It was just his third regular-season game overall, with three playoff games against the Buffalo Sabres under his belt last season, but he looked timid at times and seemed hesitant to make plays and take chances. He did get a nice shot off the net in the third period, but Shesterkin stopped it. Sturm will give the "Kid Line" with Hanges, Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov some time, but scratching Hagens at some point wouldn't be surprising.
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