Bruins Postgame: Pasta Served For Legends; Bruins Win 3-1
The Bruins win 3-1 after serving pasta to the legends.
BOSTON, MA – The Boston Bruins defeated Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 at TD Garden, home of the team’s Centennial 2023–24 season opener, which was attended by many Bruins alumni and legends like Bobby Orr.
CLUTCH: David Pastrnak scored 61 goals last season, setting a record, and he is now 59 goals shy of that total.
With his first goal of the season at 11:22, Trent Frederic tied the score at one.
One minute and forty-seven seconds later, Pastrnak scored his first lamplighter of the year to give the Bruins their first lead. Pastrnak scored a goal past Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom after receiving a perfect feed from Milan Lucic, his former linemate from the 2014–2015 campaign.
With 55:09 seconds remaining in the game, Pastrnak scored his second goal of the contest and the season on an empty-net goal to seal the victory.
BANGER: John Beecher, a 22-year-old rookie center, was able to join the Boston Bruins in 2023–24 thanks to his hustle, perseverance, and two-way play. He wasn’t too bad at the faceoff ., either.
Beecher continued to show those traits on the ice in his first-ever NHL game on Wednesday night, leaving his mark on Blackhawks center Cole Guttman at 3:12 of the second period with a vicious hit that was called into question for boarding.
As a result, Beecher got into his first NHL fight and Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson went after him. Give the young man his due; he competed well and received a resounding applause from the TD Garden supporters.
DOGHOUSE: Charlie Coyle’s season opener was forgettable, despite the fact that he never truly puts in a lack of effort.
Fortunately, Coyle still has 81 games left to make amends.
With a faceoff score of 8–8, Coyle was the only member of the Bruin team to struggle.
In 15:56 TOI, he finished the game with one shot, one hit, and no points.
UNSUNG HERO: The Boston Bruins’ X-factor for this season may be Trent Frederic.
With a career-high 17 goals scored in the previous campaign, the Bruins are hoping Frederic can become the power forward they hoped he would become when they drafted him 29th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
If not, they hope he can at least break the 20-goal mark.
With his first goal of the season and three shots and three hits in 14:06 TOI, Frederic looked like a power forward in the season opener.
KEY STAT: One of the main concerns going into the Boston Bruins season was how they would make up for Patrice Bergeron winning an absurd number of faceoffs each season.
First line center Pavel Zacha (8-3 at the .) and third line center Morgan Geekie (6-2 at the .) did exactly what head coach Jim Montgomery and the players had preached throughout camp—that they would have to do it by committee because no one can ever replace the master of the ., Bergeron.
The Bruins had a 34-20 record in faceoffs as a team.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “I wondered that while I was driving in.
It will undoubtedly be different.
It had a different vibe when I first announced it in the summer.
You can sort of hear what your body clock is telling you in the fall.
On Wednesday night, Bergeron was asked if he felt more like he was playing at TD Garden than just watching.
OUTLINE:.
ahead of time.
Pavel Zacha, David Pastrnak, and James van Riemsdyk.
Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, and Jake DeBrusk.
Morgan Geekie, Matt Poitras, and Trent Frederic.
Jakub Lauko, Milan Lucic, and John Beecher.
Patrick Brown is an extra.
Men in defense.
Charlie McAvoy / Matt Grzelcyk.
Hampus Lindholm-Carlo Brandon.
Kevin Shattenkirk / Derek Forbort.
Additional: Ian Mitchell.
Goalkeepers.
Ullmark Linus.
Swayman, Jeremy.
