With head coaches in the first year at the helm of their respective teams, the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks figure to be building their games during the early stages of the season.
The Original Six rivals will take the second step of their respective 82-game journeys when they meet in Boston’s home opener on Thursday night.
With a condensed NHL schedule due to the Olympic break in February, nights off will not be commonplace this season. The Bruins begin with the unique challenge of a back-to-back and four games in six days, but a 3-1 win at the Washington Capitals on Wednesday was a great start based on coach Marco Sturm’s early-season expectations.
“I want to see growth. I want to see us come together,” Sturm said earlier this week. “I’m not gonna say we’ve gotta make the playoffs or that we’ve gotta be in a playoff spot in November, this and that. I want my players to play that way … and get that (Bruins) identity back.”
There were definite signs of that identity right away, with the return of Charlie McAvoy (seven hits) and Hampus Lindholm from last season’s injury absences helping to provide stability on defense.
Physical play from new Bruins forward Tanner Jeannot was evident, and the solid work of Jeremy Swayman (35 saves) and a perfect penalty kill (5-for-5) also fueled the victory.
“It’s important for our group to take the momentum that we had from training camp and just continue it,” Swayman said. “We had great bounce-back (after a tough second period); we stuck together. Those are good signs starting off the regular season. … We have things to work on. It’s good.”
While depth scoring will be necessary for Boston going forward, David Pastrnak (one goal, two assists) and linemates Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie (one goal, one assist each) led the way on Wednesday.
Pastrnak began his quest for a fourth straight 100-point campaign and now has scored in four straight season openers.
“It’s great that we got on the board. But it’s game one. We have to keep working hard,” Pastrnak said.
A Tuesday opener against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers was a tall order for the Blackhawks, who entered the season with the second-youngest roster in the NHL by average age (26.6).
Chicago dropped a 3-2 decision but stayed in the game throughout despite Florida’s dominant first and third periods. Coach Jeff Blashill wants his new team to learn and strive for a more consistent effort going forward.
“It is such an unforgiving league that you have to be on top of your game every night,” Blashill said. “You’re not going to be perfect, I get that, but you can’t let the lows be so low. Certainly, there’s some guys that need to take that lesson.”
Frank Nazar (one goal, one assist) became the sixth Blackhawks player age 21 or younger in the past 40 years to record multiple points in a season opener. Linemates Teuvo Teravainen (one goal, one assist) and Tyler Bertuzzi (two assists) also had multi-point efforts.
Former Boston College goaltender Spencer Knight made 34 saves in his first game against his former team since joining the Blackhawks.
For now though, Chicago’s focus has to be on the inside.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, we’ve got to focus on us,” Knight said. “We can’t just show up when we’re playing Cup champions. Every team’s good in this league.”
