Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 6-3 win over the Senators in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Patrice Bergeron scores first home-opener hat trick since ‘95: Who needs the preseason, anyway?
After tallying a pair of points in Boston’s first win of the season against Buffalo on Thursday, center Patrice Bergeron continued his torrid pace Monday, scoring a hat trick and adding a helper in what was another dominant outing from the Bruins’ top forward trio.
Bergeron’s hatty was the first time that a Bruin scored a hat trick during the team’s home opener since Cam Neely accomplished the feat in 1995. It was also Bergeron’s fourth career hat trick — and his third overall in 2018 (1/6/18 vs. CAR, 1/18/18 vs. NYI).
He opened the scoring just 30 seconds into the contest after jamming home a loose puck past Sens goalie Mike Condon, while later tallying the B’s lone power-play score of the game at 17:12 in the first. He added his final tally at 4:38 in the third after his wrister bounced off the knee of Cody Ceci and fluttered past Condon.
Playing on arguably the top line in the NHL is a major plus, but Bergeron’s ability to hit the ground running over the past week has been impressive, given the fact that Bergeron did not play in a single preseason tuneup due to offseason groin surgery and back spasms.
"I’ve been impressed with everything Bergy does to be honest with you,” Bruce Cassidy said. “He plays at both ends. We use him in every situation, so good for him to get us going on time tonight. Usually we rely on him to give us a good start, may take away from, if we’re looking at certain matchups, but we like to start them simply because they generally get the puck and get going on the other end, put them on their heels.”
Rask returns in net, posts 28 saves in win:
While Bergeron and the B’s top line stole the show Monday,
Tuukka Rask
bounced back from Wednesday’s debacle in Washington with his first win of the season — stopping 28 of the 31 shots that came his way.
It wasn’t a perfect outing for Rask, who relinquished a goal to Ryan Dzingel from a tough angle — with Dzingel clapping the puck home along the boards and about five feet outside of the right circle.
Still, Rask kept his club in the game with a number of impressive saves, including a shorthanded breakaway stop on Tom Pyatt in the opening stanza.
"Tuukka was good,” Cassidy said. “I mean the second goal looks ugly. We didn’t have, the whole thing was a mess, but it looked like a bit of flash screens. But he made some big saves. He came out to absorb some traffic around the net, was more engaged in the game, willing to play the puck, so I thought he was good. A good bounce-back game for him.”
FOUR UP:
The Bergeron line:
There’s not much else that needs to be said about Bergeron’s performance Monday afternoon, but the entire top line of Bergeron,
Brad Marchand
and
David Pastrnak
obliterated Ottawa.
Since Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Capitals, the Bergeron line has overwhelmed teams — tallying seven goals and 18 total points over the last six periods.
Both Bergeron (3 G, 1 A) and Pastrnak (2 G, 2 A) finished with four points, marking the first time in B’s history that two players have recorded four or more points in a home opener.
“You know, I think we were excited to be back here,” Marchand said. “It’s our first one at home and you never know how it’s going to go, but it was good to get that one early and kind of build off that. We didn’t have a great second, but we rallied back in the third and had a much better third and got a good win.”
Fourth Line:
After sitting Chris Wagner out of the lineup Thursday and bumping Sean Kuraly up to the third line last week, Bruce Cassidy went back to basics for his checking line Monday, putting Kuraly in the middle between Wagner and Noel Acciari.
As expected, the line was a pain to play against Monday, with the trio combining for two points, five shots on goal and seven hits in the win.
One shift that best exemplified the trio came in the first, when Wagner regained puck possession in the Sens’ zone off a great forechecking sequence along the boards. Acciari fired in a pair of Grade-A chances against Condon in the subsequent zone time, while finishing his shift with a crushing hit against Zack Smith.
The fourth line finally broke through in the second, with Wagner deflecting a blast from
Charlie McAvoy
past Condon to make it a 3-1 game. Kuraly provided the secondary helper, lifting the puck out to McAvoy while facing a 2-on-1 pinch. Kuraly finished the game with eight scoring chances for the Bruins when out on the ice (even strength), along with five scoring chances against.
“They looked very good,” Cassidy said of his fourth line. “See that’s the thing, when Noel goes to the wing I find he’s freed up to be more physical, be on top of pucks. When you’re a centerman you have to be a little more responsible, so that’s the difference. I like him as a centerman. He knows what he’s doing in his own end, makes good reads, good stick, willing to block shots, but when he’s on the wing I find he’s freed up a little more.
Sean’s more comfortable with that line obviously he played with them for a full year, so we talked to him — moving into a third-line role a little more offensive. But right now that’s his comfort level. Let him get some games under his belt. Maybe as the season goes on we’ll take another look at it.”
Charlie McAvoy:
McAvoy continued to build off of a strong showing against the Sabres Thursday during the B’s home opener, setting a new career-high with three helpers in the win.
While he did not land a shot on goal, McAvoy’s
paid dividends against the Senators, as his attempt from the blue line was deflected through traffic off the body of Wagner and past Condon for the tally.
In even-strength play (17:58 TOI), McAvoy was on the ice for 10 scoring chances for the Bruins, and just five for the Senators.
Penalty kill:
The Ottawa Senators may not be the 60s-era Soviets in terms of scoring prowess, but Boston’s penalty kill neutralized its opponent on all three of its chances on the man advantage — including a 5-on-3 sequence that lasted for 1:16 in the third period. Standouts include Acciari — who nearly had a shorthanded breakaway following a clutch block in the high slot — and Zdeno Chara, who swept away a number of tumbling pucks in the slot.
“It becomes turning points, momentum builders, Zee saved a goal, big, long heavy stick," Cassidy said. "Noel did a great job, thought could have drawn a penalty on that one, the breakaway. They didn’t see it that way, so not only do you keep it out of your net you create offense while you’re doing it, so good for him and Marchy and Zee and (Brandon) Carlo and (Kevan) Miller. They’re generally pretty good at that. And their goaltender needs to make saves. That makes a difference. They get back in the game, get some momentum.”
TWO DOWN:
Bruins’ younger defensemen:
While McAvoy was a force out on the ice in his second career home opener, fellow young blue liners in Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo took their fair share of lumps against the Senators.
Magnus Paarjarvi
David Backes
Grzelcyk also had a rough outing, including three giveaways alone in the first — highlighted by a poor pass on the power play that was picked off and led to a 2-on-1 shorthanded chance.
Third line:
While
David Backes
held his own in the middle for a revamped third line, there wasn’t a ton of chances generated by the new trio of Backes,
Anders Bjork
and
Danton Heinen
in Monday’s win. A hat tip to Backes for his kick save in the slot to save a goal in the first, but Bjork and Heinen were both out on the ice for just four scoring chances for the B’s.
INJURIES
None to report from Monday’s game. Torey Krug, who will be re-evaluated in about two weeks from an ankle injury, made an appearance at ice level during player introductions, drawing a loud ovation from the TD Garden crowd.
TOP QUOTE
"I agree with that chant, by the way. I’m all for it. Tonight will be a big game, obviously in the best of five. I’m excited for the Red Sox. I’m excited to see the Celtics play. I was at a game in the Finals last year against Cleveland. They’re a fun group to watch, so obviously all four teams have aspirations of winning, so we just started.
“The Patriots just started, but the Red Sox are there, and the Celtics are right around the corner. So, I think it’s great to be, let’s face
when you have four teams in the mix. It would suck to be like Cleveland, although
turning the corner. I shouldn’t say
looks like their football–they’ve got a quarterback now. But I think we’re spoiled here.”
--- Bruce Cassidy on the “Yankees Suck” chants at TD Garden and the general landscape of the Boston sports scene.
UP NEXT:
Coming off of a three-day break, the Bruins will have another two days to rest up before hosting Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Boston split its season series with the Oilers last year with a record of 1-1.
