Photo taken from NHL.com. 
Photo taken from NHL.com.
The Bruins won their home opener over the New Jersey Devils tonight by a final score of 3-0. It wasn’t a perfect game, particularly during the second period, but in the end, they did much more good than bad and they walked out of the building with two points, which is all that matters at this time of the year. Here’s a period by period breakdown of the game.
First Period: The Bruins started the game well, which was good to see given they were coming off a nine-day, four-game road trip and caught a redeye flight back to Boston after the Colorado game. So, there was some doubt as to whether or not they would start well, but, the fact that it was the home opener and the crowd was into it probably helped their energy level, and they came out strong and looking hungry. But anyways, just 3:23 into the period, Brad Marchand buried his fourth goal of the season after Pastrnak caused a turnover in the defensive zone and then got the puck to him! It’s nice to see those guys playing well and their chemistry right back to where it should be, as they are obviously a huge part of the team. The Bruins continued to play great after that goal and they completely out possessed the Devils, but perhaps my favorite part of the next few minutes was hearing the boos rain down on PK Subban whenever he touched the puck. I just so happen to really hate that guy, as I think he’s too much of a showboater and greatly overrated, plus there’s just something else about him that I can’t quite put my finger on, so anytime he gets booed it’s really fun for me! I should also mention that Marchand embarrassed him on his goal, and I may or may not have burst out laughing.
Moving on, at 11:22 of the period, Joakim Nordstrom scored his first goal of the season to put the Bruins up 2-0! It was a great, gritty goal by Nordstrom, who just went to the net and worked hard and then he got rewarded for it. Wagner and Kuraly both got assists on the goal, which was also nice to see because it was their first ones of the season and it’s good to see that line clicking again and quickly considering Nordstrom just came back last game! The Bruins then continued to outplay the Devils, but nothing too noteworthy really happened until Kuraly was sent to the box for hooking at 15:24 of the period. Then, not only did the Devils’ terrible power play not score, but Marchand and Bergeron actually got two nice shorthanded chances while wasting nearly a quarter of the Devils’ PP time! Also, Marchand got a shorthanded breakaway after blocking a Subban point shot, but Schneider made the save. Meanwhile, when the Devils got their chances, Rask made some beautiful saves to preserve the Bruins lead, including an outstanding one on Nikita Gusev. Mirco Mueller then got whistled for interference with just 16.4 second left in the period, so the Bruins headed back to the power play. The period then ended with the Bruins holding a 15-10 shot advantage, and the Bruins were able to head back to the dressing room with confidence and up 2-0.
Second Period: The Bruins started this period decently, but it didn’t take too long for it to go downhill. They committed far too many turnovers, especially in the defensive zone, and were just generally sloppy in their own end. But, thankfully, the Devils are not a very good team and Rask continued his phenomenal play, so they were unable to capitalize on any of them. Nothing specific noteworthy happened until Carlo got called for hooking at 9:19 of the second period. The Bruins PK had an outstanding night, as on top of allowing the Devils very few chances, they got several of their own and the players were always where they needed to be and not afraid to block shots. Granted, part of them looking so good is probably due to the Devils’ power play being god awful, but that aside, they still looked very good. Not too long after the Bruins killed that penalty off, they went to the power play, as Kuhlman got tripped as he was taking the puck to the net at 6:12 of the period. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get much going despite the Devils’ penalty kill possibly being worse than their power play. Shortly after that power play was over, they headed back to the penalty kill as Pastrnak got whistled for a faceoff violation. It was a weird call and one you rarely see, and while I don’t necessarily agree with it, the Devils didn’t convert on the power play so it didn’t end up being a big deal. The Bruins then started to pick up their play again, and with 1:01 left in the period, Kyle Palmieri tripped McAvoy and the Bruins headed back to the power play. This time, the Bruins were able to convert as Marchand took a shot with purpose, DeBrusk dug hard in front of the net, and Bergeron was able to tuck it in with 45.7 seconds to go in the period! His secondary assist on this goal was the 300th of Marchand’s career, so congrats to him on that achievement! The period then ended with the shots in favor of New Jersey, 26-24, and the Bruins comfortably in the lead 3-0 despite not playing the best period.
Third Period: The Bruins started this period much better than they did the second, but nothing noteworthy really happened for quite some time. There was some back and forth and the Bruins looked determined and committed to playing the right way in order to preserve their lead and be able to walk away from the game with two points. At 11:15 of the period, the Bruins headed to the PK because Chara was just bigger and stronger than Nico Hischier, although the penalty was officially called holding. But other than that, both teams had some chances and the goalies made some nice saves, but you could tell the Devils just didn’t have it in them to beat the Bruins and that the Bruins were determined to hold onto their lead, so they played a pretty safe period overall. The game then ended, and Tuukka Rask earned his first shutout of the season with a 31-save performance in the Bruins’ 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils in their home opener!
Overall, as I said above, it wasn’t a perfect game by the Bruins as they didn’t have a great second period, but they did a lot of great things and much more good than bad. Most importantly, they walked away with two points, which is the most important thing at this time of year. They’ll be able to watch the video and hopefully use it to correct at least some of their mistakes, namely the numerous turnovers in the defensive zone, before they take on the Anaheim Ducks at 1:00 pm on Monday. I’ll have a pregame report for that and probably a postgame on this blog, but I’ll also be live tweeting the game over at PUCKerUp Boston again, so be sure to tune in there, especially if you can’t watch the game!
Hockey Addict 