The bruins finally played hockey for the first time since August, and the game ended in a way we have not seen in well over a year. The game ended in a shootout WIN for Boston, their first since 2019 which is crazy to think about. Of course the hero in the shootout was none other than Brad Marchand, who is famously known for skating over the puck in the shootout against the Flyers last year to lose the game. It was a mostly dominated game by Boston, but New Jersey's netminder Mackenzie Blackwood was lights out keeping the game tight for 60 minutes thus forcing extra time where Marchand would end up winning it.
Brad Marchand looked completely healthy despite being limited in training camp after having surgery to repair a sports hernia. He opened up the scoring for the Bruins on the powerplay in the first period, finishing a great feed from Krejci. Ritchie also had the other goal, in the third period to give Boston the short lived lead. The top line was still solid for the most part despite missing Pastrnak, as Marchand newly named captain Bergeron led the way. Studnicka on the other hand did not seem to mesh well with the line and it seems like if Smith is good to go next game Bjork will take over that role of right wing on the first line until Pastrnak can return.
Many questioned how Rask would be heading into this season with many uncertainties on his future and his opt out in the postseason. Those questions were answered after this performance we saw out of him. His best work would come later on in the third period, overtime, and shootout when he had the bulk of his workload. Without him the Bruins would have lost for sure. He had a stellar leg save at the end of the second period and his best came on a breakaway for Kyle Palmieri in overtime. He also stopped all three penalty shots in the shootout. If Rask can keep this elite level of play up all season, the Bruins can certainly make another deep playoff run.
Lots of young players were inserted into the lineup due to Krug, Nordstrom, and Chara’s departure and they for the most part played solid. Frederic seemed to have the best game, providing a great spark on the 4th line giving the team energy with his physical presence and generating chances for his team. Jakub Zboril finally got his shot and he played on the 3rd pair with Kevan Miller and he looked solid. Once he gets settled in he has a great shot so hopefully they can use that to their advantage, there’s a reason he was drafted so high. He knows he has a lot to prove, as many have labeled him as a bust already so hopefully he feeds off of that and uses it as motivation. Lastly, Jack Studnicka played on the top line with Bergeron and Marchand but seemed out of place and failed to find his stride thus leading him to be scratched for Bjork once Smith came back. There is no panic however, as he is the youngest of the 3 and still played excellent on the penalty kill.
It was surprising to some that Kevan Miller even made the opening day lineup, but he beat out Connor Clifton and man has Miller become a story for Boston. After missing the last 605 days of not playing a game with multiple knee surgeries he looked like he had been playing the whole time. He looked great with Zboril and gave the Bruins exactly what they needed with that big physical presence on the back end with multiple big hits. He is going to be key in the long run so hopefully he stays healthy and continues to get even better as he knocks the rust off.
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