A few new faces were front and center when the Boston Bruins opened their season against the New York Rangers at TD Garden on Tuesday night, and two of the biggest additions - JJ Peterka and Will Borgen - wasted no time making their presence felt.
Both players arrived in the offseason via trades, with Borgen coming over from the Rangers and Peterka joining from the Utah Mammoth in deals that cost a pair of first-round picks. Borgen slotted in alongside Hampus Lindholm and logged 17:43 of ice time while finishing at plus-2 in Boston’s 3-0 win. Peterka’s night had a little more flair.
The winger was on the top line with Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak, and he looked more dangerous than plenty of fans probably expected. Fraser Minten gave Boston a 1-0 lead late in the third period, and Peterka followed with the insurance marker.
After taking a pass from Lindholm, he carried the puck into the Rangers’ zone, slipped through Braden Schneider’s legs, and beat Igor Shesterkin to make it 2-0. When asked about the move to bring Peterka in so early in the summer, second-year head coach Marco Sturm kept it simple.
“That’s why we got him, right?” asked Sturm after Tuesday night's game, per Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe.
Peterka was buzzing all night beside Pastrnak and kept generating chances, which is exactly the kind of start Sturm and the Bruins had in mind.
Sturm also liked what he saw from Boston’s overall structure, the same system that helped turn the Bruins into a surprise playoff team last season. Still, he had one stretch that didn’t sit right with him.
“The only stretch I didn’t like was the start of the third period,'' said Sturm, per Jack Studley of Boston Hockey Now. "I mean, yeah, they maybe pushed a little bit more, but I think it was just us not being dialed in right away. So it took us a little bit, a few minutes, to get out of there, and that’s why we have a really good goalie.''
The Rangers did generate five shots on goal during that early third-period push, but Jeremy Swayman shut the door on every one of them. Boston’s goalie bailed out some shaky moments in front of him and helped preserve the shutout.
Now the Bruins head into a tricky two-game road trip. They visit the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night and then turn right around for a Saturday night matchup in Minnesota against the Wild.
Boston will still be without Charlie McAvoy, who has five games left to serve on his six-game suspension to start the season. After the trip, the Bruins return home to face former goalie Linus Ullmark and the Ottawa Senators.
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