That was more like it.
A full 48 hours after getting “humbled” Iron Sheik-style by the Florida Panthers in a letdown season opener, the Bruins looked much closer to the Stanley Cup contender that everybody’s expecting in a 6-4 home opener win over the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Thursday night. Even better, it was a great showing by many of Boston’s new players in their first regular season game in front of Bruins fans expecting big, bad things from the Black and Gold this season.
“We want to win a lot of battles and I thought we won a lot more battles in all three zones,” said Jim Montgomery. “And playing faster [is what we want to do]. I think we see what kind of team that we can be, but we’ve got to become a better checking team and understand game management a little better. I didn’t think our game management was exemplary in the third period. But it’s hard to win in this league, we got our first win and we just keep going.”
Obviously, the biggest curiosities are going to be for the two big ticket items purchased in free agency this summer, and neither one of them disappointed. Elias Lindholm made a major impact in the game with an important go-ahead goal at the end of the first period and finished with a goal and three points while looking every bit the smart, strong, experienced and effective frontline center that Boston was missing at times last season.
There was one point toward the end of the game, with the Montreal goalie pulled, that Lindholm managed to get the puck in the offensive corner. Most players probably would have scrambled out of the corner to try and frenetically score into the empty net goal, but Lindholm just stapled the puck against the boards and battled three or four Montreal skaters for a good 10 seconds while the rest of the Bruins group was able to change for fresh skaters.
That is the kind of cerebral, instinctual winning plays that Lindholm was billed to bring when he was signed in free agency, and he showed it in a big way right out of the starting game while looking very comfortable centering David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha.
Then there was Nikita Zadorov, who finished with two assists and a plus-1 rating in 18:47 of ice time while playing strong, solid defensive hockey while being on the ice for just one of Montreal’s four goals scored. He didn’t pile up a massive hit or blocked shot totals, but he was an oversized, punishing presence in the defensive zone that was exactly what Boston had been missing the last few seasons.
And needless to say, Zadorov feels like Boston has been a good match for him.
"The fans are awesome here,” said Zadorov. “It's great. I used to hate playing here but now, it's my home. I'm enjoying it. It was exciting."
Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, early in this season has been the play of Boston’s newest players added to the fourth line. The fourth line was one of the few bright spots from a disappointing loss in Florida on opening night, and they just keep right on performing while scoring three goals in Thursday night’s win over Montreal. Mark Kastelic scored two goals in a performance that kept the momentum going from a really strong preseason for him, and Cole Koepke continues to look like a speedy, tenacious keeper on the fourth line as he added a goal and three points in less than eight minutes of ice time.
He may be a real surprise after being buried in the deep, talented Tampa Bay Lightning organization over the last few seasons.
“It just feels good to contribute to the team’s success,” said Kasterlic. “Getting on the scoresheet is always a good feeling. I think we’re starting to build our games together and get comfortable with each other, and it’s all starting to pay off.
“It’s a huge focus. We all play with speed and we have pretty good size, so if we get it to the net and cause some chaos then good things are going to happen.”
Kastelic, Koepke and Johnny Beecher threw hits, provided energy and very noticeably attacked the net with their speed and power to really great effect against a Montreal defense that couldn’t hold them back. All three goals came as a result of dogged net drive with Koepke slamming the puck home on his score after Beecher had driven the post and Cayden Primeau couldn’t quite freeze the puck before Koepke arrived at the crease.
Koepke's first as a Bruin 🐻 pic.twitter.com/DP9lHPKdL7
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) October 11, 2024
“It was nice to see how hard they all went to the net,” said Montgomery of Kasterlic, Koepke and Beecher. “It’s something we feel with the speed and the size of our team that we want to do more of. It’s not easy to do, but [tonight] was a good sign.”
After being perhaps looked at as an AHL depth signing back on the July 1 open of free agency, Koepke may be another one of those under-the-radar Bruins signings that is going to pay NHL dividends for them.
It wasn’t all command performances for the new players, however, as it seems like both Riley Tufte and Max Jones haven’t yet grabbed hold of an open forward spot in the lineup, but that may also change once Matt Poitras returns to good health. Still, the winning effort on Thursday night against Montreal erased some of the major concerns coming out of the season opener against Florida, and served as reassuring notice that the Bruins should once again be one of the top teams in the Atlantic Division if they bring that level of effort and execution.
At the very least, Don Sweeney and the B’s front office should feel good about the improvement work they did this offseason after watching everything come much closer to plan against arch-rival Montreal in the home opener.