“We were actually packing the the bus to go to Wilkes-Barre and I filled up a cooler and was carrying it outside when our equipment guy grabbed the cooler from me and said, ‘Hey, go into the coaches office.’ It was was 12:27 and the bus left at 12:30,” said Lohrei.

Lohrei, the Bruins’ second-round pick from 2020 and their best defense prospect, got the word he will make his NHL debut on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Garden, thanks to a set of circumstances that could see the B’s miss half of its regular defense corps.

Charlie McAvoy will start his four-game suspension, Matt Grzelcyk was placed on long-term injured reserve and Derek Forbort is nursing a lower body injury, making him a question mark for the Leafs’ game. An offensive-minded defenseman who’ll need to grow his game in his own end, the 22-year-old Lohrei had four assists in seven games with Providence.

Defensemen Ian Mitchell and Parker Wotherspoon were also recalled from Providence.

Given the situation, Lohrei will not have the opportunity to be eased into the lineup. He will be paired with Brandon Carlo and play in the top four. The two lanky D-men, both of whom are 6-foot-5, played together in the preseason.

“I just liked their length, their mobility and their ability to force a lot of dumps-in and kill a lot of plays before it even gets into our end,” said coach Jim Montgomery.

“You’re going to see (Lohrei) out there a lot. We think he’s ready for this league and we think he’s going to play well in this league. I don’t know what the minutes are going to be, but he’s going to be playing top four minutes, so it should be anywhere (around) 18, depending on the special teams.”

It doesn’t seem so long ago that Carlo was the young pup being led into battle by Zdeno Chara. Now he’s the mentor and, considering that Grzelcyk is now on LTIR ( a player must miss 10 games and 24 days to qualify), it appears Lohrei will get a good, long look.

“It’s crazy being in this position. The time frame for me being in this position has gone by so fast. I still feel like a young guy at times but overall, I think the biggest things I’ve learned from Z, especially in these early stages of playing together, is communication on the ice,” said Carlo. “As long as we’re doing that, we’re going to set things out in the defensive zone and through the neutral zone and whatnot. And when we get back to the bench, if he sees something that I should do differently, then that’s the way you build chemistry for pairings. I think for both of us just communicating as much as possible (is key). He’s a smooth skater, great player and he’s going to do just fine. I think just helping him maybe manage nerves at times, I’ve been in the position and it’s about not getting over-exaggerated and overthinking too much. That’s a big thing in my game makes me play better. Just trying to keep him calm there and be a positive, encouraging voice and I feel that from there, he’s just going to take it and run with it.”

As for the butterflies, Lohrei doesn’t deny that they are there, but he’s leaning into them.

“Since I got the call up there’s been nerves, but that’s all part of and that’s what makes it so special and so fun,” said Lohrei.

Leaning on Lindholm

With the loss of McAvoy, Montgomery will lean heavily on Hampus Lindholm. That might not be such a bad thing. When McAvoy was injured to start last season, it was Lindholm’s excellent performance that sent the B’s on their way to a record-breaking regular season.

“I think the two of them when they’re in the lineup give us an advantage over most teams just because they control the game when both of them are out there,” said Montgomery. “And the opportunity not only with (McAvoy) but with Forbort out, now he’s goes to the No. 1 PK. He’s going to be out there for almost every D-zone draw when we have the opportunity, he’s going to be out there for half of the O-zone draws…. Him playing 26 to 28 minutes would not be a surprise now.”

As for Forbort, Montgomery quickly corrected himself by saying he is questionable, but make of it what you will.

Suspension talk

Montgomery’s take on McAvoy’s suspension for his high hit on Oliver Ekman-Larson?

“The league does an extensive review,” said Montgomery. “All I know is I would not want their job. I don’t think you can win, whether it’s too long or too short. We respect the job that they do and we’re going to respect their decision. I’d like to have him back sooner, but I coach him.”

Loose pucks

Matt Poitras will play his 10th game on Thursday against the Leafs, thus burning the first year of his entry level deal. He got the word from the GM on Tuesday.

“(Don Sweeney) just called me up to his office and I kind of had an idea it was going to be good news. I was still a little bit nervous, but he said, ‘Yeah, you’re going to be sticking around for your 10th game, just keep working, keep preparing the same way and you’ll be fine,’ ” said Poitras.

The 19-year-old rookie has been living in a hotel since training camp, but that’s going to change.

“Yeah, a couple of options have been presented, but I’ll take some time and talk to my parents and see what they think,” said Poitras.

It looks like Poitras will be playing a marquee role against his hometown team, the Leafs. He finished the emotional comeback win against Florida skating on a top line with David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha and that’s the line he practiced with on Wednesday.

“Those two guys are really skilled players and for me it’s kind of easy to find spaces and they’ll be able to move in and make plays and feed me the puck and I can feed it right back,” said Poitras. “Obviously, Pastrnak is a really good goal scorer and I see myself as a playmaker, so I’ll be looking for him and he can do his job and score.”…

Jakub Lauko was placed on IR. He has not skated with the team since taking in errant skate to the head over a week ago in Chicago. … After posting eight goals, six assists and a plus-nine rating, Pastrnak was named the NHL’s third star for October.

The B’s brought up from Providence first-year pro Mason Lohrei as well as fellow defensemen Ian Mitchell and Parker Wotherspoon.

Grzelcyk was placed in long-term injured reserve and Jakub Lauko, currently out with an eye injury, was placed in IR.

Lohrei, the B’s second round pick in 2020 who left Ohio State early to join the organization, had four assists in seven games with the P-Bruins.

The B’s get back in action Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Garden.

That’s the punishment Charlie McAvoy received for his check to the head of Oliver Ekman-Larson in the third period of Boston’s 3-2 overtime win over the Florida Panthers on Monday.

On the play in question, the B’s were in the attacking zone when, well after the Panthers’ defenseman had gotten rid of the puck from in front of the Florida net, McAvoy delivered a check to the head of Ekman-Larson. McAvoy was assessed a match penalty on the play.

In the NHL’s video announcing the suspension, it is pointed out that the head is the direct point of contact and that the head contact is avoidable.

McAvoy’s history was also taken into account. He was been fined by the league and suspended a game in the 2019 playoffs when he caught Columbus’ Josh Anderson with an illegal check to the head.

McAvoy has the option to appeal, but it would be heard by commissioner Gary Bettman, making it unlikely it would be overturned. Calgary’s Rasmus Anderson appealed his four-game suspension for a hit on Columbus’ Patrick Laine but it was upheld.

The suspension does not come at a good time for the B’s. Not only was McAvoy playing his best hockey of the season in the last few games – he had tied the game on Monday earlier in the period – but the B’s were already going to be shorthanded. Matt Grzelcyk suffered an upper body injury in the first period of Monday’s game and is expected to miss “a couple of weeks,” said coach Jim Montgomery.

Ian Mitchell, who played a couple of games earlier in the season, is a candidate to come up and Montgomery said first-year pro Mason Lohrei is as well.

“(Lohrei ) is definitely one of the players we’d consider,” said Montgomery. “I think he had a really good weekend (in Providence). We’re excited about the player because of what he did in camp, as probably you guys are.”

Lohrei has four assists in seven games in the AHL while Mitchell has one helper in two games with Providence.

The B’s have a tough schedule over the next four games. They play the Maple Leafs’ high-powered offense on Thursday before traveling to Detroit on Saturday and Dallas on Monday. The last game of the suspension is a home game against the Islanders.

“He’s sticking around,” said coach Jim Montgomery on Tuesday morning at Warrior Ice Arena.

The Bruins had nine games to decide whether to keep the 19-year-old rookie in Boston and burn a year of his entry level contract or send him back to his Canadian junior team in Guelph. He’s got 3-2-5 totals and is plus-4 in those first nine games and essentially made himself too important to the Boston Bruins for him to be playing anywhere else.

“(With) his play, he earned it,” said Montgomery. “I think we’re comfortable with him. No guarantees here the rest of the year, but we feel the way he’s progressed that for the time being he’s going to be a Bruin and he’s helping us win hockey games. That’s the most important thing, right? He’s still 19, so we’re going to be cautious.”

Montgomery would not rule out giving him a night off here and there as Anaheim has done with star teenager Leo Carlsson. But with the injury bug that has hit the B’s, they just can’t afford to sit him out right now. And right now, he hasn’t showed signs that he’s in need of a break.

“He’s played faster, he’s continued to get better at both ends of the ice, but what’s appealing to us is that every time you start to think, well, this might be too much, whether it was the exhibition season or these nine games, he just always finds a way to (show) he belong. He belongs. He just belongs,” said Montgomery.

The skill of Poitras was never really questioned. He posted 16-79-95 totals in Guelph last year. But skill alone doesn’t guarantee an NHL career. One of his most eye-popping traits is his doggedness on the puck.

“That’s the number one reason why he’s going to play a 10th game, because of that,” said Montgomery. “We see the hockey IQ, we see the skill, we see the vision. But if you don’t compete and you don’t have natural second and third effort, especially at a young age, it’s hard to stay in the league. And that’s been the best quality as to why we think he’s earned this.”

Poitras was unavailable to reporters because he had meetings, according to B’s public relations. It’s a good bet one of the things to be discussed with GM Don Sweeney was how exactly does a 19-year-old who has never lived on his own go about living in a city like Boston. He’s been living in a local hotel.

Montgomery is comfortable with the support system the B’s have in place.

“We use all avenues at our disposal,” said Montgomery. “We have sports psychology, we have athletic trainers, we have sports science and then you have the experience of people like Don Sweeney, he’s great at understanding time management and all of that stuff and imparting that knowledge. And we have great team leaders that take guys under their wing like (Brad Marchand) and (David Pastrnak) and (Charlie McAvoy) and (Hampus) Lindholm and (Brandon) Carlo .We have so many resources here within our culture in the Bruins organization, then you have the alums that are around, with a guy like (Patrice) Bergeron or (Ray) Bourque. We have a president (Cam Neely) that’s pretty good as a player. We have so many resources and we encourage our players to use all those resources.”

Even tough the B’s have started 8-0-1, they are in a transitional year after the retirements of foundational players Bergeron and David Krejci. But there can be an upside to the turnover, and we’re seeing it with both Poitras and rookie John Beecher.

“You always feel the young guys bring you youthful, innocent energy that lifts everybody up,” said Montgomery. “It reminds you of your first days in the NHL because of how excited you were, to go on the road, oh my God, you’re on a plane, you’re not on a bus. All those things. We have a couple of those players who are new to the league and young and they’re bringing us that kind of energy. In fact, we need more of it.”

Just earning a point would have been considered a pretty solid moral victory considering the circumstances, but Pavel Zacha topped off the electric comeback with the winner with 1:24 left in overtime to lift the B’s to a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers that seemed highly improbable earlier in the night.

“It was a very gutsy win and we stuck with it for all 60-plus minutes,” said Linus Ullmark, who made 36 saves for the win.

The win will not erase the pain that the Panthers inflicted on the B’s last April, as captain Brad Marchand readily admitted, but it should serve as a pretty good building block.

“I just think you can build some confidence,” said Marchand, who started the comeback. “These are the games, especially going down the stretch and in the playoffs, that you have to be able to win. Right now, it’s just another two points but it’s definitely something where we can understand when we come in between periods, look at our game and make adjustments, it can make a difference. We saw that tonight.”

After the brutal first period in which they went down 2-0, the B’s found their footing in the second with a Marchand goal and then Charlie McAvoy tied it up at 7:20 of the third period off a beautiful rush. Zacha made a nice touch pass to David Pastrnak, who had speed going through the neutral zone. Pastrnak sliced from left to right through the offensive zone and lifted a pass to the rushing McAvoy, who flipped home his second goal in as many games past Sergei Bobrovsky.

But McAvoy put his team in a hole with a hit to the head on Oliver Ekman-Larson with the puck nowhere close to the area in the offensive zone, earning a match penalty and possibly a couple of games off. That gave the Panthers a five-minute power play and put the B’s down four defensemen after Matt Grzelcyk had left the game in the first period with an upper body injury (he’s expected to miss a couple of weeks).

The B’s and their fantastic penalty killers (now 36-of-37 on the season) did their job and survived the major, pushing the game to OT.

“It was tremendous character by our four defensemen (Brandon Carlo, Derek Forbort, Hampus Lindholm and Kevin Shattenkirk) that gutted it out. And also for our team coming back against a real good team from 2-0 down and be able to find a way to win,” said coach Jim Montgomery.

It was the night before Halloween, but the Bruins experienced all their nightmarish flashbacks from last spring in the first period, when the Panthers won all the key battles at the blue lines, got their sticks in lanes to thwart scoring chances and utterly frustrated the B’s on breakouts.

The B’s incurred their first multi-goal deficit in the opening 20 minutes – and it could have been worse than the 2-0 score that it was. The Panthers dominated, outshooting the B’s 16-6 in the first.

The B’s had a glimmer of spark in the early going, but it quickly blew up in their faces.

Rookie Matt Poitras broke in on an odd-man rush and from the left wing fired a shot that Bobrovsky kicked out for a long rebound. With McAvoy pinched down at the right point, Sasha Barkov took off on a 2-on-1 with Sam Reinhart. Grzelcyk took Reinhart and gave Ullmark the shooter, but the goalie’s glove could not catch up to Barkov’s wrister at 6:13.

That seemed to throw the B’s into disarray, as they continued to cough up the puck all over the ice. The Panthers doubled their lead at 15:08. Poitras lost the puck behind the B’s net and Barkov pounced on it. He circled the cage and found Reinhart out front for Reinhart’s eighth of the season.

In the second, Montgomery shifted his lines, moving Zacha to the wing with Poitras and Pastrnak, and putting Charlie Coyle with Jake DeBrusk and Marchand. On top of that, the B’s simplified their game, got pucks behind their defensemen and got to their own forecheck.

The B’s also came with more snarl – and it paid immediate dividends. On one shift, Shattenkirk dropped Anton Lundell with a forearm and Morgan Geekie deposited Nick Cousins into the Florida bench, creating the first buzz in the building.

“It got some juice to the bench and it got the crowd going, too,” said Montgomery.

Then, at 3:38 of the second, the B’s gave Florida a dose of their own medicine to draw to within a goal. Coyle kept a puck in at the blue line and fed a circling DeBrusk. DeBrusk took it deep down the right wing and fed it out front for Marchand, who just got his stick on it to nudge it past Bobrovsky, who’d come out of his net to face a potential DeBrusk shot. It was Marchand’s fifth of the year.

The B’s finally had some momentum, but it was thwarted by a bad call. Geekie was clearly knocked into Bobrovsky by defenseman Josh Mahura but he was sent off for goalie interference. The B’s killed that off and, at the end of the kill, the Panthers lost Sam Bennett, who was making his season debut after suffering a lower body injury in the preseason. Bennett got tangled up with Hampus Lindholm and appeared to hurt his left knee, needing help to get off the ice.

Heading into the third, the B’s remained in striking distance, thanks to a terrific save on Evan Rodrigues’ one-timer in tight late in the second. The B’s made it count, tying it in the third then hanging on for dear life on the lengthy penalty kill before the OT.

Both teams had good chances to win it in the extra session, but when a loose puck came to Zacha on the right boards in the defensive zone, he went the distance on his off wing, beating Bobrovsky with a sharp wrist shot to the far side to keep the B’s unbeaten in the regulation (8-0-1).

“It was an important win, especially after last year. this game meant a little bit more,” said Zacha. “You want  to beat teams like this.”

The deal was announced at 5 p.m., but there were some obvious signs a deal was in the works at the morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena. Heinen took the first shift as the fourth line left wing in the morning skate with John Beecher and Oskar Steen and, at the end of the skate, he was awarded with the center stretch to stick taps all around.

Heinen had been with the B’s on a tryout agreement since the start of training camp but, because of some salary cap constraints, the club had not been able to sign him. That appears to be changing, and a Heinen addition should give coach Jim Montgomery a player he could plug in throughout the lineup.

“His versatility is really important, he can play both wings adeptly as well and he understands whatever line he’s put on, what the expectation is of the role he’s going to play,” said Montgomery, who coached Heinen at the University of Denver.

This is would be Heinen’s second go-round with the B’s, who drafted him in the fourth round (116th overall) in 2014. He played 220 games with the B’s and was part of the B’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019 before the B’s traded him the next season to Anaheim at the deadline for Nick Ritchie. He played with the Ducks and then the Penguins, posting a career-high 18 goals with Pittsburgh two years ago. But with so many teams facing a cap crunch last summer, he found himself without a contract.

Montgomery has liked the way Heinen has kept himself sharp as he skated in limbo.

“I’ve been really impressed because when we do practice and there are opportunities for him to make plays or penalty kill, he’s been very noticeable,” said Montgomery. “He’s making a lot of plays, a lot of smart plays. He’s got really soft hands. It doesn’t matter who he’s gone with. And he’s got more energy that other people, to be fair, because they’re playing. His practices are his games right now.”

Heinen, meanwhile, has seemed very much like a member of the team. He was on the west coast road trip and was at the Centennial Gala at the Copley Plaza earlier this season.

“It’s been a little different, but everyone’s been great with me and it’s been fun to be here and be a part of it and watch these guys win games. It’s a little different, but everyone’s been great,” said the 28-year-old Heinen. “It’s a great group and a group you want to be a part of.”

While there’s been some uncertainty with his situation, Heinen credits the organization for keeping him in the loop.

“There’s a lot of moving parts and a lot up in the air, but they’ve been great communicating with me and the staff’s been working with me and the trainers and stuff keeping me ready, so that’s just my mindset the whole time. Just be ready,” said Heinen.

Neck guard debate

Since the tragic death of American hockey player Adam Johnson, who was accidentally cut in the neck with a skate blade by an opposing player on Saturday while playing in the British pro league, the debate surrounding neck guards has resurfaced.

On Sunday, several Providence Bruins players chose to wear the extra protection though no players at the Boston morning skate elected to do the same.

Montgomery has firsthand experience with both a similar tragedy, as well as neck guards and he understands why some players won’t wear them.

“It is awful and it’s tragic. A kid I played with back in Montreal, Jamie Lechner, I think was the first player to pass because of the same thing. I wasn’t playing with him at the time. He had graduated to midget hockey and I was still second-year bantam at the time. But just hearing the stories, it’s very similar. A skate accidentally hits someone in the right place, and it was horrific. I remember going to his funeral and how hard it was on all of us at such a young age. And then Adam Johnson, I coached against him in college (when Johnson was at Minnesota-Duluth) … you just feel awful,” said Montgomery.

“We went to the neck guards right away in Quebec and I think after that season, all of Canada adopted it. It is hard to get used to it, and I think it’s a personal choice if you want to do it. As soon as I got out of Quebec and got into college hockey, I took it off. Just because I felt it restrained me from breathing the way I wanted to or, whatever, it’s a nuisance getting a little rug burn (on the neck). I think it’s a personal choice. It’s obviously something that could help you but the thing is, the (guard) moves up and down and maybe it’s not protecting you where you need to be protected anyways. And if you’re going to put it firmly there, then that’s going to really start to restrict your breathing as your playing. It’s tragic, it’s horrific when it’s happened I think three or four times in the last 30 years, maybe 40 years, but I think it’s a people choice.”

South Yorkshire police have opened an inquiry into the incident.

Boston’s Jakob Lauko is out of the lineup after he suffered a close call with a skate blade when, in Chicago, a Blackhawks’ skate blade came up and hit him under the face shield near the eye. Fortunately the eye was not damaged but he did suffer fractures to the orbital bone.

Loose pucks

After 19-year-old Matt Poitras has been the target of a couple of questionable hits, Montgomery decided to put a little extra protection on his line in the form of Trent Frederic.

“I think teams know that Poitras is a good player and they’re trying to test him. I don’t think they’ll test him as much with Freddy on his line,” said Montgomery, who would later shift Poitras to a line with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak in the B’s 3-2 overtime win.

Frederic played with Poitras a little bit in preseason and was looking forward to it again.

Monday’s game was Poitras’ ninth and final one before the B’s had to decide whether to keep him and burn a year on his entry level deal or send him back to junior. The former option seemed like the better bet, though Montgomery wasn’t showing his hand after the game.

“I’ve been told I’ve been too effusive with my compliments towards him,” said Montgomery with a laugh. “We’ll have a decision (Tuesday).”

Captain Brad Marchand went to bat for the kid.

“He’s definitely made the best case possible for himself. He’s a heck of a player. He’s going to have a very long career. He does all the right things on and off the ice to be a good pro and it’s very impressive to see at his age,” said Marchand. “And he’s a great kid. He’s a lot of fun to have around, always happy. I mean, how can you not be, being 19 and in the NHL. But he’s so much fun to watch with how poised he is with the puck, the confidence he has at his age and the way he can see the game already. His future is very bright. We’re very lucky to have him in the organization. He’s definitely made a great case.”…

The B’s have an optional practice on Tuesday, and Brandon Carlo (5:32 of shorthanded time) and Derek Forbort (5:01) should be first in line to take that option. Hampus Lindholm (28:06 total minutes) should be right behind them.

They may not be able to score at will, and the old reliable names no longer patrol the middle of the ice. But they still have excellent goaltending, team defense is still the foundational rock the team was built upon and, perhaps most surprising of all, the penalty kill is still a shining light.

One reason is, though they’ve lost some key personnel from the PK from a year ago, one constant remains – assistant coach Joe Sacco, the Medford native who runs the highly successful unit.

After their 4-for-4 effort against the explosive Red Wings’ power play on Saturday night at the Garden, the B’s are now 33-for-34 on the PK, with the only goal coming in garbage time of the 4-2 win over the Kings in Los Angeles.

When the subject of the PK came up after the B’s 4-1 victory over Detroit, Sacco’s name was on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

“He does a great job. It’s plain and simple,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “We were No. 1 last year and this year we’re off to a great start again. Obviously our goaltenders have a great deal to do with that but I just think his game plan, his execution, and the players, they understand his game plan at a high level. Because we don’t have (Patrice) Bergeron, we don’t have (David) Krejci, we don’t have (Tomas) Nosek, (players) that were big part of our penalty kill as it was. So we’ve got new bodies in there and they’re still doing a great job.”

Sacco, who was a head coach in Colorado for four seasons and has been with the Bruins since 2014-15 back in the Claude Julien era, still has some stalwarts like Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort on the back end and Charlie Coyle up front. But he’s also incorporated rookie center Johnny Beecher to take some of the key faceoffs that Bergeron and Nosek once did and is now even utilizing the quick feet and stick skills of the under-sized defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to get the job done.

It was the PK that helped set the defensive tone on Saturday. The B’s started off well as a team but when Charlie McAvoy took an interference penalty 6:08 into the game, it gave Detroit and its high-powered offense the opportunity to gain some momentum. The exact opposite happened. The Wings never mounted much of an attack on that PP and, by the end of the first period, the B’s had a 2-0 lead they would ride to victory.

“(Sacco) is awesome,” said McAvoy, who would later score a spectacular goal that held up as the game-winner. “He’s been there since I’ve been here… obviously the PK is his strong suit every year. We’re at the top of the league so we’re doing good things. And that always starts with him.”

Preparation, said goalie Jeremy Swayman, is the key.

“That’s a Joe Sacco special right there,” said Swayman. “He takes such pride in having the pre-scouts for us and having a great game plan. It’s something we take pride in as a team. Our four are going to outwork their five every time and it’s been a momentum builder for us. Any time we get on the PK, we know it’s going to be a momentum-shifter and that’s scary for teams coming to play us because we know that we’re going to get it done.”

Some of the players who aren’t part of the kill units know the frustration that the B’s PK can cause an opponent.

“They’re unbelievable. It’s terrible practicing against them. Some times you think your (power play) should get better when you practice against the best PK in the league, but our PP is getting worse from that,” said David Pastrnak with a chuckle.

Quick hits

The B’s have started to create more scoring opportunities in the last couple of games. Slowly, there appears to be some chemistry developing on the current first line of Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha and Brad Marchand, but there is still a ways to go in the chemistry. Pastrnak has played extensively with both players at different times of his career, but not at the same time. And the move of Zacha to the middle is big step.

“With Marchy, the chemistry has always been the same exact thing. With Zach, the only difference is he’s playing center instead of wing and that is definitely harder. That’s much harder. In our system the centerman works much harder, in the D-zone they work much harder,” said Pastrnak. “So it’s a little different. We’re working on it, communicating, trying to get better at it. But it will take some time. I can’t imagine if I would become a center. It would take a while to know how to win a faceoff, and overall to learn where to go. Centerman is not an easy position in out organization, but we will get there.” …

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Adam Johnson, the former Pittsburgh Penguin who was tragically killed on Saturday while playing in the British Elite Ice Hockey League when he was cut in the neck by a skate blade. It is an awful reminder of the inherent risks and dangers every player must deal with every time they step on the ice. Think twice the next time you want to call a player “soft” or worse.

In their first foray into the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division, the B’s knocked off the high-scoring Detroit Red Wings, 4-1, withstanding a late push to improve to 7-0-1.

Jeremy Swayman stopped 23-of-24 shots and the B’s throttled the Wings offense for the first 40 minutes before holding off a third-period onslaught from a Wings’ offense that came into the game averaging 4.38 goals a game.

David Pastrnak sealed it with a beauty of a penalty shot goal and then a bank-shot empty-netter to nail down the two points.

“We circled this one on the calendar this week and we wanted to send  a statement. In division games, we want to make sure we’re staying dominant,” said Swayman. “That’s a big momentum piece for us moving forward, coming out strong and finishing strong. I’m glad we put in a full 60.”

Before the Wings made their push in the third, the B’s stifled them through the first 40 minutes, limiting them to 13 shots. They were also a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

“I thought we neutralized their speed through their rush attack and I thought we protected our house from the back of the net and from the passes to the slot,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “It’s a real gifted offensive team there and I thought the focus on defense, and the focus on offense, the game plan, the players went out and executed it.”

The Bruins played one of their best periods of the year in the opening 20 minutes and took a 2-0 lead.

After stifling Detroit’s high-octane power play, the B’s got one of their own after 6-foot-6 Michael Rasmussen ran Matt Poitras from behind and was called for boarding. It was big hit from a big man, but Poitras would come back and play another solid game. The B’s have one more game to decide whether to burn the year of his entry level deal and Montgomery wasn’t jumped the gun. But it’s hard to imagine him going back to junior.

“We see the skill, we see the smarts but I think his will is very underrated,” said Montgomery. “We’ve got a hockey player on our hands.”

The B’s paid Detroit back for the Rasmussen hit on the scoreboard.

With Charlie McAvoy in full control of the man advantage, James van Riemsdyk had several tip chances, one of which hit the post beside goalie Ville Husso, but the B’s would not let him off the hook. With the B’s dominating the ice below the circles, Brad Marchand sent a puck through the slot that eventually found its way to the backhand of Pavel Zacha and he was finally able to flip it home for his second of the year at 10:33.

McAvoy then made it 2-0 at 14:36 on a spectacular individual play, though he got an uncredited assist from Patrick Brown. McAvoy burst down on his off wing and, with Brown playing the role of Paul Silas boxing out a lane for the defenseman in front of the net, McAvoy took the space given to him and was just able to backhand the puck through Husso for his first of the year at 14:38.

The B’s held a 13-7 shot advantage in the first.

The second period was less frenetic and, as such, scoreless. But the B’s were tempting fate. Midway through the period. Oskar Steen took an offensive zone hooking penalty and later Trent Frederic was called for high-sticking right off a defensive zone draw.

But the B’s penalty kill was not only able to keep the Wings’ explosive power play, they held them to very few opportunities that could be termed a scoring chance.

Jeremy Swayman lost his bid for his second consecutive shutout at 6:40 of the third period. Charlie Coyle turned over the puck just outside the Bruin zone. Joe Veleno got the puck with speed, cut through the B’s zone and sizzled a wrist shot the beat Swayman over the glove.

That changed the tenor of the game. The same way the Ducks took over the game on Thursday, the Wings were emboldened by the goal that got them within one. They pinned the B’s in their own zone and hit a post.

But after Derek Forbort and Ben Chiarot got sent off for roughing, Zacha sent David Pastrnak for a breakaway on the 4-on-4. Pastrnak was hacked on the glove by Jake Walman, earning a penalty shot at 11:19.

On the freebie, Pastrnak threw a couple of jukes at Husso and then roofed it over him to make it 3-1. It was his second successful penalty shot this season, one prettier than the next, and this one allowed the B’s breath enough to finish the game.

With the empty net, Pastrnak then finished it off when he banked the puck off the boardsfrom his own zone  and it slid slowly into the net.

Steen enjoyed a solid training camp but, with the number of bottom six candidates, the 25-year-old AHL veteran was sent back to Providence after clearing waivers.

But he did not pout about it, as so often happens with players who are close to making the cut but wind up getting sent down. He notched 3-2-5 in five games and was arguably Providence’s best forward.

So with Milan Lucic on LTIR with a foot injury and Jakub Lauko out for at least week with an ugly eye injury, Steen got the call to come up, bumping Jesper Boqvist – the first call-up – out of the lineup for the B’s Saturday tilt against the Detroit Red Wings at the Garden.

“He had a really good camp. He was playing fast and going to hard areas, playing inside the dots. It’s a real strength of his,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “Talking to the staff down in Providence, (head coach) Ryan Mougenel, he said that he’s been really impactful the last three games. When you bring guys up, you want them feeling good about their games so that they come here with confidence and he’s a confident player right now.”

At 5-foot-9 and 199 pounds, the 2016 sixth-round draft pick does not look imposing at first glance, but he’s got tree-stump legs and a low center of gravity that should help him in the areas where the B’s want him roaming, the so-called dirty areas of the ice. He scored a goal in preseason from the top of the crease.

He was admittedly crestfallen when he was sent down, but he didn’t let it affect his game.

“For sure I was disappointed. I was very close to making the team. I felt like I had a really good camp,” said Steen. “I brought that energy (to Providence) and my game has been really good, so I’m just trying to build on that… I just kept going and I was trying to think that I would be back here soon. Now I am, so that was my goal.”

Going into Saturday night, Steen had played a total of 26 NHL games over the course of the last three season, notching 3-4-7. At the age of 25, he’s getting a little long in the tooth to still be termed as a prospect. He’ll need to play with some urgency if he wants to stick for a while.

On the other, Montgomery believes there will be a lot of chances this year for players like Steen, given the makeup of the team.

“There’s just more opportunity to gain ice time this year than there was last year because of the way we are,” said Montgomery. “We’re younger, we’re a little more raw, which tends to lead to either really good performances, or sometimes not as good. It also means there’s inconsistency, so the opportunity to come in here and gain minutes is more readily available than I think it was last year.”

In 9:31 of icetime in the B’s 4-1 win over Detroit, Steen was plus-1 with two shots and two hits. the only blemish was an offensive zone hooking penalty in the second period.

“I did like his game,” said Montgomery. “I really like the part in the third where he took that shot and he bulled rushed to the net and almost banged home his own rebound. You can’t have enough of that. And I feel like out team is really good at that.”

Boqvist, meanwhile, was returned to Providence after the optional morning skate. …

Quick hits

Free agent-to-be Jake DeBrusk, expected to carry a healthy share of the offensive load, went into Saturday’s game with just two assists, prompting a chat with Montgomery in Friday’s practice.

“I actually spoke to him (Friday), just seeing where his mindset’s at. When a player talks to you, a lot of times they indirectly tell you what they’re thinking even if they don’t know that they’re doing it. That’s why I think it’s really important to listen,” said Montgomery. “There was some hesitancy in the way he was talking and there’s some hesitancy in his game. We showed him some clips of what makes him a real good player and really it’s more about talking about what makes him a real good player. The best example is the game in Anaheim. The third period I thought he took the game over with his feet and his tenaciousness on pucks. A lot of times when players don’t score, they forget that they’ve stopped working and we showed him some clips of him not using his feet to pressure pucks mostly. That creates turnovers that lead to chances. That’s primarily what our discussion was about (Friday), his mindset and working.” …

Rookie Matt Poitras is seeing a little more attention from opponents, given the way he’s been playing. After he beat the Ducks in Anaheim with two third-period goals, he caught a high-stick from Max Jones and a crosscheck from Jackson LaCombe in the game against the Ducks at the Garden on Thursday. He can expect more that.

“I think you saw that even in the Chicago game. The second time you play a team, they’re more aware of who he is. And Anaheim, obviously, his two goals led us to victory so they were very aware and obviously made a point in making it harder on him,” said Montgomery, who believes Poitras’ makeup is such that he can handle it.

“He answered every challenge so well so far. He’s a hockey player. I think he naturally competes. Anyone that’s a natural competitor is going to find a way and he seems to find a way. He took that crosscheck, Jones went after him early in the first behind the net and then he makes that great play in the second (that led to Matt Grzelcyk’s goal).”

After opening the season with seven straight Western Conference opponents – and presumed lesser lights at that – 10 of their next 12 games will be against Atlantic Division foes, starting with the much-improved Detroit Red Wings at the Garden on Saturday.

The B’s identity will soon becoming into focus.

“We need to find out,” said coach coach Jim Montgomery after Friday’s practice. “We’ve got three real good teams coming in (Florida is in on Monday and then Toronto on Thursday) and we’ll see where we stand in our division. We’ve had a good start to the year and I think our division is really strong, really competitive all the way top to bottom. It’s going to be a good test coming up for us and it starts (Saturday).”

Detroit arguably represents the most intriguing opponent. The once-proud Wings have missed the playoffs seven straight seasons but they’ve started hot at 5-2-1. Led by big free agent acquisition Alex DeBrincat (nine goals), they are second in the league in goals scored at 4.38 goals per game and will go against the stingiest team in the league thus far (1.57 GAA). The B’s are 6-0-1, with the only blemish being the big honking zit of a loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. The B’s had not allowed more than two goals in any of the six games before that.

If the Wings are to end their dubious run as a playoff have-not, they will no doubt have their sights sets on a team like the B’s, one of the Atlantic Division haves.

“These are the games we hope we’re going to play at the end of the year and these are the fun games,” said Hampus Lindholm. “We have a really strong division and there’ll be some really fun games coming up here. I think all the guys are super excited.”

There is literally no one in the division who is a pushover. Even the still-rebuilding Montreal Canadiens, whom the B’s will see twice in November, have started the season 4-2-1. These next dozen games will go a long way toward deciding how the playoff race shapes up.

“ You want to create some separation within the division and we’re all well aware of how good the opponents are and we want to make sure we want to start on the right foot,” said Matt Grzelcyk.

“It’s a bit of a measuring stick. If you want to make the playoffs, you put yourself in the best situation going in, you’ve got to create some separation from the next few teams, especially Detroit, they’re up and coming and they have a lot to prove. We want to make sure that we’re playing well at home and avenge that loss from (Thursday) night.”

Welcome, Matt

Grzelcyk, who had not been a regular contributor on the penalty kill in his career, has been seeing some time on the PK this year. He’s not exactly been a workhorse like Derek Forbort or Brandon Carlo, but he is averaging 1:11 of shorthanded ice time.

Montgomery’s reasons for employing Grzelcyk there are two-fold. First, he thinks it helps to keep him involved in the game (Grzelcyk’s not on either power play unit). Secondly, the coach thinks he’s good at it.

“We think the way we kill now, being able to use your feet is more important than blocking shots. His brain is high end, his ability to defend is high end and his reads are high end. So he should (do well),” said Montgomery. “And he’s doing it. We’ve seen it. We told him last year to work on it in practice and he’s carried that over to this year and he’s really helping us on our PK.”

Grzelcyk must be doing something right. Having killed 29-of-30 penalties, the B’s lead the league on the PK.

“You have to know your strengths,” said Grzelcyk. “I’m trying to anticipate the play more and make reads. I think our penalty kill is best in general when we’re being aggressive and reading plays before they can develop. I’m not going to be boxing too many guys out in front of the net and I know that. So if they get the puck on the half wall, maybe I’m a step quicker than normal. I know I’m going to be out there against the second unit so they’re going trying to get pucks from those areas, so I’m just trying to close plays as quick as I can.”

The Wings come in with the second-ranked PP at 38.7%.

Zero impact?

Lindholm is not having the same start to the season he did last year. He has yet to produce a point and he was on the ice for all four goals against in the 4-3 overtime loss to Anaheim.

But Montgomery believes he’s playing better than stats would indicate.

“I think Hampus is playing really well,” said Montgomery. “I look at the two previous games to (Thursday) night, he’s had an abundance of chances. He had a great chance in the first period. He’s too good of a player, too much of an impact player in this league, he’s an elite player. If he keeps putting himself in those situations, he’s going to have success. It’s a small sample size right now….Offensively, he’s a lot better than what he’s showing now, but it’s coming. And we see it in how dominant he is. He’s still defending really well. I know he was a minus-4 (Thursday) but to me those are one-offs, with how much he’s helping us win. You can just look at our goals against and he has a huge impact on that.”

The easy-going Lindholm wasn’t overly concerned about the goose egg next to his name.

“I feel like I’ve been creating some good chances, even (Thursday) I hit a post,” said Lindholm. “It’s a long year. Obviously (Thursday) sucked a little bit more because of the way we lost the game. Putting one of those in there probably would have made us win the hockey game. Those are the ones that sting a little bit. But I just have to keep harping on it and those will come.”

Loose pucks

Brad Marchand did not practice on Friday but Montgomery said it was just a maintenance day and he’ll be good to go against the Wings. … The B’s made a several transactions that appear to be of the paper variety as they look to save pennies against the salary cap. Forwards Jesper Boqvist and Patrick Brown to Providence, while defensemen Jakub Zboril and Mason Lohrei were recalled. Some further machinations are expected Saturday.

On the verge of setting franchise mark for the best start ever in their 100-year history, the B’s gagged up a two-goal lead with less than two minutes left in regulation and then Mason McTavish scored at 2:08 of overtime to lift the Anaheim Ducks to an improbable 4-3 victory on Thursday at the Garden.

The kicker was that the B’s played some of their best hockey of the season in the second and third periods. But when it was winning time, the B’s found a way to lose, failing time after time to clear the puck in empty net situations.

“It was a lack of poise with the puck. We had opportunities, I thought,” said coach Jim Montgomery, whose team fell to 6-0-1. “I thought the game was over twice with the empty net. Guys were whiffing on pucks, guys trying to go for empty nets instead of using the walls on an indirect to clear and get off the ice. That was mostly it. The other thing is we could have extended the lead to 4-1 or 5-1, we had many opportunities to do it. And we didn’t finish the game.”

The B’s appeared to be well on their way sealing their seventh win when Patrick Brown took a holding penalty with 3:59 left in regulation and the Ducks pulled goalie John Gibson for a 6-on-4. The B’s had several chances to clear but failed and with 1:55 left in regulation, highly-touted rookie Leo Carlsson scored a 6-on-5 goal seconds after Brown left the box to cut the Bruin lead to a goal.

All of a sudden, the B’s no longer had control of  the game. Their inability to clear the zone continued again and again and Troy Terry tied the game with 14.7 second left in regulation to make it 3-3.

In OT, the B’s barely controlled the puck before McTavish took a feed from Carlsson and buried the winner past Linus Ullmark, who’d given up just one goal in each of his previous three starts.

“Anaheim’s a good team as well so you have to give them credit. Obviously we wanted to close it out, couldn’t do that. That’s something for us to learn from, grow from and take with us in the future,” said Ullmark.

As we’ve come to expect in the first game back after a long, successful road trip, the Bruins were pretty lifeless in the first period. The Ducks, meanwhile, looked like they were putting a wakeup call to good use. In their win in Columbus on Tuesday, Anaheim coach Greg Cronin benched star forward Trevor Zegras and, in the first period at he Garden, the Ducks were battling for every puck.

While the Ducks, who held a 9-6 shot advantage, had the better of the chances in the first, they took the lead at 15:00 of the first on a fortunate bounce. With McTavish battling for position in the crease with Hampus Lindholm behind Ullmark, Radko Gudas threw the puck toward the net and it deflected home off Lindholm.

Montgomery, after a fair amount of debate on the bench, elected to challenge the play for goalie interference but the goal was upheld. The B’s killed off the resulting penalty, their second of the period, and went into the break down a goal.

The B’s shook off the cobwebs in the second period and stormed to a 3-1 lead.

Rookie Matt Poitras, who came into the game with three goals in two games – including two in Anaheim – was predictably earning more attention. He was high-sticked in the first period on a play that wasn’t penalized. Then early in the second period, he was cross-checked by Jackson Lacomb. That one was called, and the B’s made the Ducks pay as their struggling power play got off the schneid.

After changing on for James van Riemsdyk, Charlie Coyle won a faceoff in the right circle and went to the net. He was at the top of the crease to redirect David Pastrnak’s fanned-on slapper attempt into the wide open net behind John Gibson at 1:41 for his first of the season. The teams were officially even on lucky bounces.

As things got chippy, Coyle and Frank Vatrano received matching crosscheck penalties and the B’s took the lead on the ensuing 4-on-4. Poitras made zig-zags along the left side of the offensive zone and got it up to Charlie McAvoy at the blue line. McAvoy fed Matt Grzelcyk in the right circle and his blast squeaked through Gibson’s pads for Grzelcyk’s first of the year at 3:01.

The B’s came close to extending the lead on a penalty kill when Brown fed John Beecher with an empty net but the rookie hit the post.

They did get the third goal with 3:20 left in the second. McAvoy rushed the puck through the neutral zone and, once he gained the blue line, dished it to Pastrnak on the left wing. Pastrnak took a shot that handcuffed Gibson and produced a succulent rebound. Pavel Zacha fouled off his swing but Pastrnak was able to swoop in and deposit his sixth of the year into the empty net.

The B’s contiued to play well early in the third but could not convert any of their chances to end the game, something they would come to rue. And with game on the line, they couldn’t get out of their own way.

“Those are games you want to finish the right way and those are points you’re going to need down the stretch,” said Coyle. “It’s tough to win in this league and you’re never out of it. We’ve got to learn from it. That’s all you can do.”

The 34-year-old Van Riemsdyk, a seven-time 20-goal scorer, was coming off an injury-marred season in Philadelphia in which he was held to 12-17-29 totals in 61 games. That, combined with a depressed NHL economy last summer, allowed the B’s to sign him to a low-risk one-year, $1 million contract.

So far, it’s looking like quite a bargain. Van Riemsdyk is third on the B’s in scoring with 3-2-5 and is one third of the only line that has become a relative constant in the B’s forward group.

Aided by the fast start, the former UNH standout is starting to feel at home in Black and Gold.

“My experience so far has been great, the way I’ve been treated by the coaching staff, management and the guys in the room. It’s been a great group. It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of it so far,” said van Riemsdyk after Thursday’s morning skate. “I’m trying to find a way to fit in game by game and feel more comfortable. I think coming in to a new team, you’re always trying to do whatever you can to get off to a good start and put your best foot forward right off the hop and I think that makes the transition a little bit easier when you feel good about your game and it tends to make you feel more comfortable in general and then you can keep building off that.”

Van Riemsdyk has been part of the 650-pound line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic that is starting to forge a hard-to-play-against identity that is a handful when the puck gets to the net.

“I think we’ve been able to read off each other well. We all play a pretty direct game,” said van Riemsdyk. “I think the strength of the three of us is when we get in the offensive zone and support each other well, filling in the right spots and just getting the puck to the net and ultimately making plays off of that. That’s when we’ve been at our best doing that. I think we’ve also been pretty solid defensively, going out there for those D-zone draws and making sure we advance the puck up the ice. It’s been fun playing with those guys and hopefully we continue to chip in offensively and continue to build our game.”

Power outage

So far, the power play has been a drag for Boston’s offensive momentum. It was just three for 22 going into Thursday’s game against the Ducks, though they did break through for a PP goal in their painful 4-3 OT loss when Charlie Coyle redirected a David Pastnak fanned shot home.

Coach Jim Montgomery was asked where he thought the PP was not clicking?

“Puck movement and creating slot shots. We’re just not moving the puck quickly and efficiently enough to beat the sticks on the PK,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said the more Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak play with center Pavel Zacha at 5-on-5 that chemistry will build and roll over into the PP – “theoretically at least,” he said.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” said Montgomery. “Our guys on the elbows (Marchand and Pastrnak) have had all kinds of success, I think it’s just a matter of time before the power play clicks … generating more momentum within the game for us.”

Marchand said one of the problems is that off-the-mark passing will snowball on them.

“If you give a bad pass to one guy, it usually starts the (penalty kill’s) pressure and that’s when it’s tough to get control again. Then it’s one bad pass into another bad pass and you throw it around the wall. That puts the PK in a much better position,” said Marchand. “I think at times, we’re forcing it a little bit. But the last time we played Anaheim, we had a really good game on the power play. We didn’t score but we had a lot of control, our breakouts were really good, a lot of things you can build off. But you look at the opportunities that we had and you get a little frustrating that you’re not capitalizing. I think we just need to continue to put pucks to the net and get there. Where we’ve always been good is on opportunities where you recover a puck and make a play. So a little bit more of that, where we get an initial shot and get them running around and you recover a puck. So maybe a little bit closer support on recoveries can help us out a little bit. But just simplifying. We don’t need to force things through the box at times, which I in particular do. So just getting away from that and being simple.”

Maine message

Montgomery, a former UMaine star, opened his morning presser by giving his sympathy to the people of Lewiston in the wake of the horrific mass shootings.

“I personally spent four wonderful years at the University of Maine and I know how great the culture is in that state and I know how great the people are. My heartfelt sympathies to everybody that’s affected,” said Montgomery.

The Boston Bruins Foundation pledged a minimum of $100,000 to those affected by the tragedy. To donate through the club, visit BostonBruins.com/LewistonStrong.

After the difficult overtime loss, Linus Ullmark met reporters wearing a navy blue Maine t-shirt.

“It’s just unfair,” he said of the tragedy. “We’re complaining about losing a hockey game while people up there lost lives, lost loved ones. It’s it in perspective as well. It’s pretty easy to let this (game) go.”

Loose pucks

Montgomery said Milan Lucic, who took a shot off the foot in Los Angeles, will be out for a couple of weeks and that Jakub Lauko, who sustained a gash when he caught a skate blade in Chicago, also suffered a fracture and will be out at least a week.

Meanwhile, defenseman Ian Mitchell cleared waivers and was sent to Providence. With Lauko and Lucic out, the B’s called up forwards Patrick Brown and Jesper Boqvist prior to Thursday’s game against the Ducks.

Danton Heinen, meanwhile, remains with the team on an extended tryout….

The B’s Alumni announced that Ed Sandford, who played for the Bruins from 1947 to 1955, passed away at the age of 95. Sandford had been the oldest living member of the Bruins Alumni.

But the B’s 6-0 start this year, which tied them with the 1937-38 team for the franchise record for best start to a season, is remarkable in that the half dozen performances have all been quite noticeably flawed in one way or another, yet they’ve still managed to come out on top, all in regulation no less.

Yes, the B’s have gotten very good goaltending from Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. But they haven’t had to steal games, only hold the fort for a period or so before their teammates got their act together.

And yes, the B’s competition has been pretty light. But let’s not forget that the Blackhawks, whom the B’s have beaten twice, went into Toronto and beat the Maple Leafs and the Predators, whom the B’s beat once, knocked off the Rangers in Madison Square Garden. They also beat a good Kings team that has one of the best 1-2-3 center lineups in the league. Having to play four games in six nights as they did on their just completed road is a challenge as well, no matter which NHL teams you’re playing.

So is it time to start believing in the B’s? As a team that could/should make the playoffs? Sure. As a true Stanley Cup contender? Well, let’s hold off on that for while, at least until they play a team or two from the Eastern Conference.

Still, they are a more intriguing team than this observer expected to see thanks in great part to new additions, some youthful, some not so much.

Here are a few takeaways from the just concluded road trip, and a look ahead to what should be a more telling homestand coming up:

*Let’s go out on a limb and say 19-year-old Matt Poitras should remain a Boston Bruin and not go back to his Canadian junior team in Guelph.

Not only does his development scream out for more NHL work as a opposed to playing against fellow teenagers, the simple truth is that the Bruins need him in their lineup. While the B’s are tops in the league defensively (1.17 goals against average), they’re just 13th overall in offense (3.17). They can’t afford to lose any point producers.

Taking nothing away from Pavel Zacha or Charlie Coyle, Poitras already appears to have the best offensive instincts of any of the B’s centermen. While known as a pass-first pivot, Poitras has shown little hesitation in going to the net with the puck when he sees his opening.

But to these eyes, the most impressive trait that Poitras possesses is his doggedness in puck battles. Undersized in most of them, he finds a way to come away with the puck more often than not.

“He’s a competitive little bugger,” said coach Jim Montgomery.

It will get harder for Poitras. If his production continues, his reputation will proceed him and he’ll get some of the attention that the B’s lavished on Connor Bedard in their two meetings. The Blackhawks’ outstanding rookie was held without a shot on goal in Tuesday’s meeting while Brad Marchand was seen quite literally blanketing him as he tried to get off the ice.

It will be fun to see Poitras take on those challenges. So far, he’s met everyone that’s been put in front of him.

*At 6-0, the B’s can afford to be a little patient with the power play, but the guess here is that it will need some personnel adjusmtent at some point. They’ve clicked on just three of 22 chances this season and the execution seems to be getting worse. All it did in Chicago was to stall momentum.

So what to do? The answer feels inevitable. After having a right-handed shot in the bumper for over a decade with Patrice Bergeron, the left-handed Zacha has been placed there and it’s just not working. That is not to lay it all on hard-working Zacha. Far from it. Their two most explosive offensive players, David Pastrnak and Marchand, have experienced their woes with the puck. But we’ve seen it succeed with Pastrnak and Marchand, not so with Zacha. Iff it doesn’t get straightened out soon, they may no choice but to try the right-handed Poitras in the bumper to see if that makes things click.

If the PP keeps going like this, it will eventually cost the B’s games.

*We weren’t sure what to expect from 34-year-old James van Riemsdyk, but he may be the steal of the free agent class at a cool $1 million. He has fit in well with Coyle and Trent Frederic on a will-imposing grind line. And while he may no longer fly up and down the wing, his skill in close quarters is still outstanding. The backhand feed on Frederic’s goal in Chicago was sublime.

*We were equally skeptical about what 34-year-old Kevin Shattenkirk could bring after three years lost in the Anaheim rebuild. He didn’t jump out in any positive way in preseason and it’s still undermined how much they’ll miss Connor Clifton’s youthful legs and physicality on the third pairing with Derek Forbort. But Shattenkirk’s hockey IQ and his ability to put passes on teammates’ tape has been eye-opening. His delivery to Zacha’s blade on the B’s first goal in Chicago was flawless.

*We’re going to start learning more about these B’s in a hurry. After their return engagement against the Ducks at the Garden on Thursday – the first game back from a long roadie is never easy, no matter the opponent – they settle in for an Atlantic Division stretch against Detroit – which finally looks ready to stake it’s claim in the division – the Florida team that dashed it’ dreams last spring and the Maple Leafs to finish up the home stand. They then travel to Motown for a quick two-game roadie that concludes in Dallas.

With the addition of Alex DeBrincat, the Wings look like the real deal, at least offensively. They lead the league in goals per game with a 4.86 average and are second in power play, succeeding at a 41.4% clip.

If the B’s are still standing atop the ultra-competitive division after that run, then it will be time to really take them seriously.

Loose pucks

The B’s signed prospect defenseman Jackson Edward, 19, to his three-year entry-level deal with an NHL cap hit of $860,000. The rugged 6-foot-2, 193-pound D-man, currently playing with the London Knights, was the B’s seventh-round pick in 2022.

The B’s also placed defenseman Ian Mitchell for the purpose of assignment to Providence. Presuming he clears and the B’s send him down, that would leave the B’s with only six defensemen but they very well could be looking to add a forward. Milan Lucic has missed the last two games after taking a shot off his foot and Jakub Lauko suffered a scary cut near his left eye in the win in Chicago on Tuesday.

Mitchell played two games for the B’s and picked up an assist on Poitras’ first NHL goal.

Again, the B’s got the timely goals – Pavel Zacha, Matt Poitras and Trent Frederic tallied – and Jeremy Swayman (23 saves) delivered the B’s first shutout of the season to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 at the United Center on Tuesday.

The B’s 6-0 start ties the season start by the 1937-38 squad for the franchise’s best start, sweeping their four-game road trip. They have allowed a grand total of seven goals in those six games while Swayman and Linus Ullmark have a combined .960 save percentage..

His team game may not be quite where he wants it, but coach Jim Montgomery likes the direction it is headed.

“Love the results, love our goaltending and we’re starting to see our team identity build. The LA game and this game tonight, you’re starting to see us be a heavy, grinding team, which is what I think we’re going to have to be,”  Montgomery told reporters in Chicago.

It appeared the Blackhawks had taken a 1-0 advantage with 6:44 left in the first off an egregious turnover from Charlie Coyle, who threw a blind backhand pass into the slot, setting up super rookie Connor Bedard for a one-timer goal. But the B’s challenged that the Hawks were offside – a good 22 seconds before the goal – and their challenge was upheld when review showed that Andreas Athanasiou barely put himself offside with a pass at the blue line.

There was no score in the first period, which in part led to Montgomery continue his search for the right mix in his top six He flipped Poitras up to the top line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak and dropped  Zacha down to the second line with Jake DeBrusk and Morgan Geekie.

It didn’t pay immediate dividends, but it did early in the second, helping Zacha to finally get on the board this season. Geekie won a puck below the goal line, fishing it out for DeBrusk at the right circle. He dished it up to Kevin Shattenkirk at the blue line and the defenseman picked up his first point as a Bruin after Zacha deflected home his shot past Petr Mrazek, Zacha’s first goal of the season.

The Bruins controlled much of the second, outshooting the Hawks 18-7, but they didn’t have much by way of high danger chances after the Zacha goal.

Every time the B’s gained momentum, it seemed they would earn a power play – and that would take care of the momentum. They were 0-for-4 on the PP through the first 41 minutes of the game and looked pretty bad in the process, constantly giving away the puck so the Hawks could make easy clears.

Meanwhile, Swayman hadn’t been asked to do a lot through 40 minutes but he did get tested later in the second when Chicago broke in on an odd-man rush. Lukas Reichel had a glorious chance from just above the hash marks in the slot but Swayman gobbled it up without a rebound.

The B’s finally took full control of the game with a two goals in 56 seconds early in the third period.

After Montgomery went back to his original lines, the B’s took a 2-0 lead at 4:06 of the third on another terrific play from Poitras. The rookie had scored his first two goals of his NHL career on Sunday night in Anaheim and he got his third to extend the lead in electrifying fashion. He pounced on a loose puck at his own blue line and then outraced veteran Corey Perry and defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to create a breakaway for himself. He calmly beat Mrazek with a low wrister, giving the B’s some breathing space at long last.

“You see a guy that believes that not only ishe  in the NHL, but that he can play and play well,” said Montgomery. “It brings energy to the bench. And he has such great energy. Same as (John) Beecher. Young guys being in the league, they’re kind of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed. They bring a positive innocence with them.”

Less than a minute later, Trent Frederic made it 3-0 when he cleaned up a strong rush by James van Riemsdyk for his second of the year.

*The B’s lost Jakub Lauko when he took an errant skate from Jason Dickinson to the face while he Lauko was along the ice in a scary mishap. He left the ice bleeding badly, but Montgomery gave a promising update to reporters after the game.

“Lauko’s good thankfully. It was scary wiht the skate, he got it in the corner of the eye but it’s good. Nothing touched the eye,” said Montgomery. “Stitched up. Not going to be looking goof for a little while.”

*Milan Lucic (foot) missed his second consecutive game after having a shot deflect off him in Saturday’s win in Los Angeles.

*Derek Forbort (groin) returned to the lineup after missing a game. Ian Mitchell took a seat.

The 19-year-old rookie has been trying to prove that he belongs in the National Hockey League instead of back with his Canadian junior team in Guelph, and he made the best case possible on Sunday night in Anaheim.

Poitras scored his first two career goals in the third period to lift the B’s to a 3-1 come-from-behind win over the Ducks in Anaheim. Linus Ullmark continued his stellar early season play by stopping 30-of-31 shots and the B’s improved to 5-0, their best start since the 1937-38 season.

While no official decision has been made — the B’s have four more games to decide whether to burn the first year of the teenager’s entry level deal — it’s looking more and more like Poitras’ days with the Guelph Storm are done. Poitras struggled in his first game of this road trip in San Jose but he’s bounced back impressively in the two wins in southern California.

“He’s a hockey player. He competes, he believes in himself, he’s always looking to hang on to pucks to make plays that are going to produce offense,” coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Anaheim. “I think he has a nose for the puck. The puck kind of follows him around and that’s what happens with guys who are good offensive hockey players. They’ve got a nose for where the puck’s going.”

Before Poitras struck, it appeared the game was getting away from the B’s.

The Ducks had broken a scoreless tie at 5:05 of the third period off the rush. Kevin Shattenkirk got caught trying to pinch and the Ducks were off to the races. Eventually, Mason MacTavish cleaned a up a Ryan Strome pass on a 2-on-1.

But the B’s tied it up just 1:24 later on a momentous goal. Poitras had been the B’s most creative player from the second period on .But at 6:29, he was the recipient of a sweet feed. Off a good cross-ice pass from Ian Mitchell, Morgan Geekie took the puck in deep on his off wing and made a pretty backhand pass to Poitras, who deposited his first NHL goal into a wide open net.

“I was getting a little tired starting the third and as soon as that one went in, the juice went right to the legs. It felt great,” said the beaming Poitras

The kid wasn’t done.

Poitras gave the B’s the lead at 10:20. This time he parked himself at the right side of the net from where he was able to lift a rebound of a Jake DeBrusk shot over goalie John Gibson for the 2-1 lead.

Brad Marchand then gave the B’s a two-goal cushion with an empty net goal with 2:34 left in regulation, taking the life out of Anaheim.

The B’s had some decent chances in the first period and nearly took the lead right off the bat. On an early penalty kill, Jake DeBrusk had a clean breakaway and had Gibson beaten but the shot clanged off the post.

The B’s also had three power-play chances and their attack got more potent with each chance, but Gibson (23 saves) was solid in net.

In the second period, the Ducks started to wrest control of the flow as the B’s got too loose, allowing Anaheim to gain the zone with speed, but Linus Ullmark made all the required stops.

The B’s, outshot in the second period 11-5, finally got a couple of chances late in the period. Poitras stole the puck behind the Anaheim net and set up Shattenkirk for a great scoring chance that Gibson gobbled up. David Pastrnak also set up Pavel Zacha for a good chance but Gibson didn’t give him any room on the shortside.

The game eventually turned in the B’s favor in the third period, and the more veteran B’s seemed to enjoy Poitras’ big moment as much as the rookie did.

“Oh, it’s fun,” said a grinning Ullmark. “He’s young and it’s inspiring as well. We all try to give him a hard time sometimes but he ‘s a great kid and we’re very fortunate and very happy to have him on our team.”

*Jake DeBrusk was back in the lineup against the Ducks after being scratched for Saturday’s game in Los Angeles because he was late for a team meeting. Coach Jim Montgomery said DeBrusk “handled it like a pro” and that the matter is behind them.

“There’s just a standard we believe in here and and when that standard isn’t met, there’s repercussions. But yesterday’s over with. It’s a new day and we’re moving forward,” Montgomery told reporters in Anaheim before the game.

After the game, DeBrusk took responsibility for his faux pas.

“We have a high standard on this team and we have a higher standard than people give credit for. I broke a team rule and I understand there’s consequences with that and I own up to it completely,” said DeBrusk. “I let the guys down. I wanted to join them in LA on Saturday and having to watch really sucked. I felt it and I just wanted to do anything I could to help the team out (Sunday) in any way. Obviously, things happen fast and it is what it is, but at the same time, I’m just focused on tonight. I’m proud to be a Bruin for all the standards we have here and it is what it is. I don’t have a rebuttal or anything on it.”

*A couple of B’s veterans were nicked up and had to sit on Sunday. Milan Lucic, who picked up the primary assist on Morgan Geekie’s goal against the Kings when he took Derek Forbort’s shot off his right foot, had to take the night off, as did Forbort, who has been battling a groin injury.

*Matt Grzelcyk had to leave the game briefly in the first period when he took a huge hit from Sam Carrick in the offensive slot but he was able to return.

*Trent Frederic ran into a big Radko Gudas check late in the second period and had to go to the room but he returned to start the third period.

Jeremy Swayman (32 saves) was locked in and captain Brad Marchand produced a three-point night (two goals, assist) to beat the Kings, 4-2, at Crypto.com Arena to improve to 4-0 on the season.

“We played with a lot of emotion and we dug in. Everybody dug in in a lot of different ways. Whether it was with physicality, skill, effort or execution, I liked the we we dug in. We’re starting to see our identity come out,” coach Jim Montgomery told NESN.

The day started with a wakeup call when it was learned that Jake DeBrusk earned a healthy scratch because he was late for a team meeting. And it appeared to focus his teammates.

The B’s took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, thanks in part to some superb penalty killing and goaltending from Swayman (14 first period saves).

They found themselves on their heels immediately when Charlie Coyle was called for interference 2:01 into the game. Swayman came up with some huge saves on the first half of that PK, including one on a clean breakaway on Adrian Kempe. Then John Beecher took a penalty midway through it, giving the Kings a 55-second 5-on-3. The B’s in front of Swayman did a much better job to kill that off and they eventually got their legs under them.

The B’s would kill off their first five penalties before the Kings scored a late PP goal.

“It’s tough when you get a 5-on-3 and if they jack one in the net, you’re chasing the game right from the first couple minutes of the game,” Montgomery told reporters in LA. “Our penalty kill’s been excellent all year long and our special teams have been really good so far this year.”

Rookie Matt Poitras, who had a rough game in San Jose, got some of his mojo back on a productive shift, creating a couple of scoring chances and, eventually, the Kings committed a foul.

The B’s scored quickly on the power play. Brad Marchand absorbed a a big hit along the right boards and then found David Pastrnak in the left circle. Pastrnak stepped to the inside and ripped a short-side shot that goalie Cam Talbot could not catch up to with his blocker, giving he B’s a 1-0 lead at 13:10. It was Pastrnak’s fifth goal of the season and he became the first Bruin to score goals in each of his first four games of the season since Dmitry Kvartalnov did it in 1992.

A great chance to extend the lead was squandered by the B’s when Arthur Kaliyev high-sticked Charlie McAvoy late in the first period, taking a double minor. But not only did the B’s apply very little pressure, they were lucky that the score wasn’t tied by the end of the advantage. Philip Danault pounce on a loose puck at the LA blue line and took off on another clean breakaway, clanging the crossbar behind Swayman.

But the Kings did get the equalizer at 6:28 of the second. Pierre-Luc Dubois sprung Alex Laferriere for a breakaway between Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo, whose desperate swipe could not keep the former Harvard forward from scoring his first career NHL goal.

An explosive 48 seconds turned the game back in the B’s favor

Morgan Geekie got the B’s their lead back at 14:45, thanks in part to another good shift of Poitras cycling and retrieving the puck. After Derek Forbort clanged a post, Poitras recovered the puck and set up Forbort again. The defenseman’s second slapper went off Milan Lucic’s leg in front and bounced to Geekie, who deposited it behind Talbot for his first as a Bruin.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Trent Frederic dropped the gloves with 6-foot-4, 200-pound Andreas Englund and landed several big rights before the linesmen jumped in, Frederic emerging with an ear-to-ear grin while pumping up the B’s bench.

And less then a minute after Geekie’s goal, Marchand snapped a wrist shot that went through Pavel Zacha’s slot battle with Anze Kopitar and somehow leaked through Talbot’s pads for the 3-1 lead, Marchand’s second of the season.

“Give Frederic (credit) with the fight because I think it really got our bench going,” said Montgomery. “And then we just wore out the back of the net. I thknk we saw the type of team we can be.”

As the B’s mucked it up for much of the third period the Kings pulled Talbot with 3:38 left. Talbot had to go back in when there was a faceoff circle in he neutral zone. The B’s then outworked the Kings down low with Pastrnak feeding Marchand his second of the game with 2:12 left to seal it.

The Kings got a late power-play goal to snap the B’s streak of 18 straight penalty kills to start the season, but they would not get any closer.

*It was a terrific game for Forbort, who had two assists, five hits and four blocks in 22:20 of icetime.

“He tweaked his groin early in camp and now you’re starting to see the player that we saw last year,” said Montgomery. “He’s really assertive defensively, blocking shots and getting pucks out on the penalty kill. And he’s getting more assertive offensively again, too. He’s sliding, he’s getting more comfortable and he’s getting in a good rhythm offensively.”

*Poitras didn’t show up on the scoresheet in 13:25 of icetime, but he had a much better game than he did in San Jose. He also showed some toughness in the third period when he left the game leaking blood after catching the shaft of Kopitar’s stick in the face off a faceoff, but quickly returning to the game.

*Pavel Zacha has been one of the B’s hardest working players through the first four games and he was finally rewarded with his first point, a helper on Marchand’s second goal late in the third period.

*The B’s play the second half of their first back-to-back on Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks.

And it was a self-inflicted loss.

B’s coach Jim Montgomery informed reporters in LA after the morning skate that winger Jake DeBrusk was late for a team meeting and that he would be a healthy scratch against the Kings, the B’s toughest opponent thus far in this young season.

“That’s why he’s out of the lineup,” said Montgomery.

This surely is not the way DeBrusk had wanted to start what could be the most important season of his career from a personal standpoint. He is in the final year of a two-year contact that pays him $4 million a season and, in his first crack at unrestricted free agency, he appears to be in a position to take a sizable step up in play.

Last season, he matched a career-high of 27 goals despite missing a month of the season with a broken leg. He’s also become a more complete player in the last couple years, now playing a regular role on the penalty kill unit.

The PK has gone 13-for-13 to start the season, but DeBrusk has not yet been able to get on the scoreboard.

This is not the first time that the 27-year-old DeBrusk has made news off the ice. He had butted heads with former coach Bruce Cassidy off and on throughout his young career and, two seasons ago, his trade request became public. But the B’s held on to him, DeBrusk’s game gained some consistency and he appeared to have turned a corner under Montgomery.

Perhaps this is a one-time blip and it can be put in the rear view mirror quickly, but it bears watching.

While DeBrusk’s scratch made room for Patrick Brown to make his Bruin debut – he skated with John Beecher and Jakub Lauko in the morning skate – while veteran Milan Lucic bumped up to the first line to skate with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak.

“I give him credit. He looks really good,” said Montgomery of Lucic. “He’s making plays. He’s holding players accountable for how we want to play on the bench as far as his leadership and his words. And I think he’s looked good skating wise. He’s on top of pucks, he’s winning foot-races, which is a credit to him because he’s come here and he’s assimilated to how we want to play and he’s playing fast.”

Montgomery also used the first half of the back-to-back to give defenseman Ian Mitchell his Bruin debut in Kevin Shattenkirk’s spot.

“He’s played very aggressive. I’ve liked his skating and his puck management and someone who had a really good camp, so we’re excited to see him play,” said Montgomery of Mitchell.

But while nothing jumped out to excite fans who stayed up late to watch, the B’s banked the requisite two points in a 3-1 win over the Sharks.

“It’s good to get the first one on the road trip. We hadn’t played in a bit. There’s definitely some things we need to continue to clean up but if we can continue to improve while getting points, that would be good,” Brad Marchand told NESN after scoring his first of the year.

If they have a lot pretty tic-tac-toe plays in their arsenal, the B’s haven’t shown it in their first three games. Unimpressed by his team’s 5-on-5 play in the first two games, coach Jim Montgomery had changed his top three lines going into the game. He turned the blender on again before the second period was out, still to no avail. But nevertheless, the B’s notched their third win in as many tries this year.

“It’s a work in progress,” Montgomery told reporters in San Jose of his team’s offensive chances.

Expect to hear that for a while.

The B’s, who landed 17 shots on net in the opening 20, controlled much of the first period but did not get on the board until the final two minutes, when they scored twice in 21 seconds.

The first one came at 18:06 on a line change. After John Beecher changed for his fellow rookie Matt Poitras, he covered for the pinching Derek Forbort and stopped a clearing attempt at the left point and slipped it back down to Marchand. The captain walked into the left dot and sniped his first goal of the year over goalie Kaapo Kahkonen’s glove arm, a perfect shot. The helper was Beecher’s first NHL point.

On the next shift, the B’s new 650-pound line of Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and James van Riemsdyk – the B’s best line of the game – went on the attack. Coyle, on his off wing, took the puck behind the net and then threw it toward the goal mouth. Frederic had a couple of whacks at it before van Riemsdyk jammed it home for his third goal in two games. Sharks coach David Quinn debated with his staff on reviewing – van Riemdyk’s stick did come in contact with Kahkonen’s pad and moved it, but Quinn declined to challenge.

At the other end, Linus Ullmark (26 saves) wasn’t overly taxed, seeing a lot of long-range shots. But he did come up with a terrific save on a slot shot from Mike Hoffman, one of the few Sharks’ scoring threats.

While still not giving up much, the B’s didn’t offer much in the way of offense in the second period until there was 3:14 left in the period. And even then, it wasn’t all that pretty.

David Pastrnak burst up the right wing on a partial odd-man break and elected to keep it himself. He got hit from behind and, off-balance, flailed at the puck before defenseman Matt Benning accidentally deflected it behind Kahkonen. Inartful as it may have been, it was Pastrnak’s fourth goal of the season.

The B’s could not keep the sheet clean for Ullmark in the third period. With 8:47 left, speedster Anthony Duclair streaked down the left wing and, after running out of real estate, threw the puck in front where it bounced off Hampus Lindholm and past Ullmark.

The B’s faced over two minutes of 6-on-5 time, but they couldn’t get the empty-netter. Marchand took a penalty with 36 seconds left, but the Sharks could do nothing with it.

Poitras had started the game with Marchand and Morgan Geekie and, even though he started the play on Marchand’s goal on a nice pull-up, he wasn’t much of a factor the rest of he night. He played just 12:18 and took a minus-1 on Duclair’s goal after the B’s had an offensive zone faceoff.

“To be a good pro, you have to learn form the game and move on. Get ready for the next one. We’re going to get a real good test when we go to LA (on Saturday),” said Montgomery.

Marchand’s assessment?

“I thought we had some good shifts and some we’d want to have back. But it’s going to be a work in progress. We’ve never played with each other before. It’ll take some time to build chemistry but I thought we did all right,” said Marchand.

While he by no means had to steal the game, Ullmark was very good in notching his second win of the season.

“He battled hard. There was a lot of traffic and he seemed to come up with a lot of key saves through the traffic,” said Montgomery.

While the right mix has not yet been found in the top six, Montgomery liked what he saw from the van Riemsdyk-Coyle-Frederic line.

“They had a tremendous impact. I thought Charlie was dominant tonight and his two linemates owned the front of the net and middle of the ice. That second goal really put the exclamation mark on what I think that line can be,” said Montgomery.

Beecher had his best game thus far, not only picking up the first point, but winning 7-of-11 draws, including one late in the game after Marchand took the penalty. He also made a nice play on the PK to spring Marchand for a breakaway in the third period.

“It’s huge. for myself especially, that’s how I’m going to make it in this league and survive in this league. I have to take a lot of pride in the 200-foot game and being able to help out our team in that aspect. I think our kill has been pretty solid lately and hopefully we can keep it rolling,” said Beecher.

The point was a thrill for him.

“It’s pretty special getting the first one, especially an assist to a guy like that, a top 20 Bruin of all time. I’m going to be able to tell my kids about it one day,” said Beecher.

The B’s have killed all 13 penalties against them this year.

The Bruins begin their first extended road trip on Thursday in San Jose and, as they do annually, they talked about the importance of getting away from home and getting into that road bubble to become a more cohesive team on and off the ice.

Some years, it can be more true than in others. But it’s a good bet the 2023-24 version of the Bruins are a team that could use a little bit of away time. Boston’s roster has eight players who were not on the team last year, including a pair of rookies. Call it a transitional year or a rebuild-on-the-fly type of season. But who exactly the B’s are is still a wide-open question and any positive vibes they can bottle on the road will be needed if they’re to get back to the Stanley Cup tournament in April.

“To me it’s nothing but positives – and it’s not because I’m a positive person,” said coach Jim Montgomery before hitting the road. “It’s early in the year, these guys have got to get to know each other, they get to have dinner with each other, they get to walk around LA on their day off together, wherever they choose to go. It’s more about bonding time. You learn more about yourself as a hockey player and as a team when you’re on the road, in tough environments.”

There’s no doubt they will be rested when they face the Sharks after having played just two games in eight days Here are a few thoughts on what to look for on the trip:

Offense from defense

The B’s need continued production from the back end, especially on the power play.

It’s still not known what James van Riemsdyk will be able to provide at 5-on-5 – he’ll be on a new heavy line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic – but he certainly still seems to have it on the power play. He scored two PP goals in the B’s win over Nashville. The first one was an ugly bank-shot off the defenseman, but the second was a vintage JVR tip in front of the net.

Charlie McAvoy, still growing into his role as quarterback of the first power play unit, delivered the puck to van Riemsdyk. That must continue. Getting McAvoy to shoot the puck more has been a minor theme in McAvoy’s still young career, but he’s got even more incentive now with van Riemsdyk in the lineup.

“I’ve got to get it there for him,” said McAvoy after the 3-2 win. “He’s made a career in this league out of getting (to the front of the net) and he’s shown in practice that he can do it and get his stick on it. I’ve got to keep working on my chemistry with him and I’m really happy to see him tip that one in.”

For Jake’s sake

Jake DeBrusk was once a player who, if he wasn’t showing up on the scoresheet, he wasn’t doing much for the team. He’s not the same player. DeBrusk played a key part on the penalty kill that catapulted the B’s to their victory over the Predators.

That said, he does need to get on the board, and the sooner the better. He now has a great chance to do so. After a year-plus of playing on his off wing with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, he’ll be moving back to his natural left side to play on the top line with center Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak. All three players can skate and Zacha is good at the dirty work of winning battles along the boards.

The B’s need to find a legitimate first line and this grouping is not only their best shot at having one but the new configuration of the top nine forwards puts a scoring threat on the first three lines. Theoretically, at least.

Nothing’s easy

This B’s team has no right to expect any easy games. They had to grind out two wins on home ice against teams in the Blackhawks and Predators that were not in most prognosticators’ playoff picture. But the game Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings should go a long way toward telling us who the B’s are, or at least who they are at the moment.

The B’s are expected to go into battle with 19-year-old centerman Matt Poitras skating on a second line while Zacha, back playing center after a year on the wing, will center the top line and Coyle back at his familiar third line role. The Kings will counter with perennial Selke candidate Anze Kopitar, newly acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois and Philip Danault, who himself has good Selke bona fides.

This will be an intriguing challenge, especially for Poitras.

Take their shots

Opportunities to create offense should present themselves on Thursday. The 0-2-1 Sharks come into the game having allowed 42 shots per game in their first three.

But the emergence of fellow rookie John Beecher has been a welcome and timely development as well. Beecher, centering the fourth line between Milan Lucic and Jakub Lauko that was the one unit that coach Jim Montgomery left alone in Monday’s practice, has helped mitigate the underrated loss of Tomas Nosek in the early going of the season.

Seeing just 12.5% of offensive zone starts, Beecher so far has shown himself to be a reliable defensive-minded pivot while holding his own in the faceoff dot (12 up, 10 down).

Plenty more challenges lay ahead, but so far so good.

“I’m definitely getting a little more comfortable out there and settling in nicely. The guys have made it a good transition for us. They’ve helped out a lot,” said Beecher, the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft, after Monday’s practice.

“I think going into games, my only mindset is keeping things simple for right now. We’re only two games in and I’m still trying to gain a little confidence out there and really just trying to open the ice up, just keeping it simple, playing north-south, playing that hard, fast game. I think it’s gone well so far and I’ve had some positive feedback from the coaching staff and the guys in the locker room. Obviously that’s really encouraging to see and I just have to keep my foot down,” he said.

In an NHL that has never been faster, Beecher’s speed has been noticeable. Combined with his 6-foot-3 frame and long reach, he has shown to be an effective penalty killer. That skill was evident in the B’s win over the Nashville Predators last Saturday when they paraded to the penalty box in the first and second periods. Beecher saw 4:36 of ice time on the PK, which would eventually help to shift momentum in the game to the Bruins.

“Obviously, we’re playing in the best league in the world right now and everybody out there can skate, so that’s definitely encouraging to see that I can still use that as a big asset,” said Beecher. “Honestly, I could probably even use it a bit more. So just still trying to fine-tune some things out in the games and get a little more comfortable. I’m sure this nice long road trip will help, just getting a couple more games under my belt and hitting the ground running.”

Playing with Lucic, who has returned to Boston as something of a Bruin icon, has helped Beecher as well as second-year NHLer Lauko.

“He does all the little things right. He’s always in the right spots. You can tell he’s played over 1,100 games so he’s an unreal vet to have. It’s kind of surreal playing on a line with him. It’s been fun for the first two games and hopefully we can keep it going,” said Beecher of Lucic.

“He sees the ice so well and he makes so many good reads. It’s good to see. We’re going to make mistakes out there but having a guy like that who can settle things down is nice.”

Shuffling lines

While the elevation of Poitras to play with Brad Marchand was the most interesting of the line changes, the reunion of Charlie Coyle with Trent Frederic was noteworthy as well. They were a successful tandem last year with Taylor Hall riding left wing, a role that for now will be played by James van Riemsdyk. Montgomery believes it can be a good two-way line.

“They’re both really good 5-on-5, below the tops players. They’re both good defensively as well. If I want to I can match them up against some other teams’ best offensive line,” said Montgomery of Coyle and Frederic. “But most importantly is the O-zone time they play well together and I think a guy like van Riemsdyk helps them connect the dots, because he likes to own the net front, Charlie likes to possess and Freddy really does a good job of getting open as the (the third forward in the zone) and shooting it.”

Montgomery believes Frederic is coming into his own as a player.

“I’ve just noticed that from this point last year to this year, he’s a way more assertive hockey player. I think he’s just a lot more confident hockey player and he’s showing how he’s taking the puck and skating with it more this year and looking to create offense more on his own,” said Montgomery.

Loose pucks

Montgomery believes, with so much turnover and some younger players in the lineup, it has been good to have a fairly light schedule early on.

“We need more teaching than we did last year, just to be able to play fast,” said Montgomery. “I really liked how our 5-on-5 game went from Game 1 to Game 2. We played a lot faster in all three zones. So that was encouraging, but we’ve still got a long way to go. We’re a work-in-progress. And when you’re a work-in-progress as a team, as far as closing out games and extending leads and things that really matter to results, you’ve got to do a little more teaching.”….

The B’s switched out the energizing and sometimes impetuous play of Connor Clifton for the more veteran, cerebral approach of Kevin Shattenkirk on the third defense pairing with Derek Forbort. Time will tell which combo will be more effective, but Montgomery has liked what the well-traveled 34-year-old Shattenkirk, who won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2020, has brought to the entire defense group.

“I really like his poise and his intelligence,” said Montgomery. “He has a really good calming influence on our D corps within the game, something we felt we needed back there, just because he’s been through a lot in his career. And I think his understanding of the game and momentum within the game will help, kind of like (Nick) Foligno and (Lucic) have done here. Looch has done that really well for the forwards this year.”…

Delaware North announced the appointment of Glen Thornborough to the role of President of TD Garden and COO of the Bruins. He will be responsible for “shaping the organization’s brand strategy, driving revenue growth, fan engagement, community relations and overall success in all non-hockey aspects of the organization,” according to a team release.

Thornborough succeeds Amy Latimer, who was recently promoted to Executive VP and COO of Delaware North.

So in Monday’s practice ahead of the team’s four-game road trip that begins on Thursday in San Jose, coach Jim Montgomery jumbled his top nine forwards to create three different lines.

The most eye-catching move was to to bump up rookie centerman Matt Poitras to play with Brad Marchand, bringing up Morgan Geekie with him. Jake DeBrusk moved back to his natural left wing to play with David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha while Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic, a solid pairing last season, were reunited with James van Riemsdyk on the left wing.

Montgomery had said at the start of the season that he wanted to be patient with his new top six, but apparently two games was enough patience shown for him to start the blender.

“It’s a small sample – two games – and we’re going on the road and that factors into it a little bit on why, but I haven’t seen a lot of offense 5-on-5 generation,” said Montgomery. “Again, small sample size but I trust my eye behind the bench and when I follow it up and see it on video, I just want to try something else to get a spark.”

Marchand, who had been skating with Coyle at center and DeBrusk on the right wing, skated some with the creative Poitras in preseason and likes what he’s seen from a purely hockey standpoint.

“He’s a great little player. Very smart, very skilled, really good at finding space with the puck. To have the poise he has at his age is really impressive,” said Marchand. “The biggest thing for him is just being able to do it every night. At this level, you’ve got to be consistent. With the amount of games and the travel and how hard it is to practice and to train the way we do here, that can take a toll on your body if you’re not used to it. So the biggest thing for him will be how he’s able to recover and continue to take care of himself. But when he gets on the ice, he’s a heck of a player. He definitely shows that he belongs here. So the biggest thing is his consistency and showing up every night and he’s done that so far.”

One thing that has been impressive about Poitras, beyond his skill level and hockey sense, is his tenacity on the puck. As a 19-year-old rookie, Poitras may not win every battle, but at least his opponent knows he’s been in one.

“Yeah, he dogs the puck. He’s not timid at all. He goes to the hard areas. And if he loses it, he has the second and third effort to get it back,” said Marchand. “That’s typically what makes players good in this game. If they don’t make it the first time, they’re able to get it back and make it the second or third time. As he continues to get older and stronger, that will benefit him even more and more. So I’m excited to see his potential and where he goes in his career but he’s got a lot of great attributes right now.”

Poitras picked up a helper in the season opener against Chicago, pulling up and displaying good vision to spot Brandon Carlo, who delivered a shot that Frederic tipped home. Against Nashville, he had a great chance in front off a Frederic feed but Juuse Saros made a terrific stop on him.

“He’s generated a lot of offense already and we might as well give him a real elite player like Marchy on his line,” said Montgomery. “And I’ve really liked Geekie’s game and I just want to see if there’s chemistry there offensively. On the other line putting (DeBrusk) there I think it gives us a real good rush line, adding a lot of speed and creativity to it. Again, is it going to work? Who knows?”

Indeed, the responsible Geekie has been a security blanket for the rookie.

“He’s really good to play with because he’s really good at getting in on the forecheck and keeping pucks alive in the O-zone,” said Poitras. “And he always seems to be good when two guys come to you, he’s right there to help out and keep the puck alive.”

While he’s been tagged as a set-up man coming up from Guelph – 79 assists in 63 games will do that – he knows from playing Marchand in the preseason that the captain likes the puck on his stick, too.

“You just see how he’s going to hold on to pucks more and possess the puck,” said Poitras, “So for me it’s just going to be about playing away from the puck more and kind of learning to find some open ice for him because he’s going to find me.”

While Poitras is understandably excited about playing with Marchand, playing up in the lineup presents new challenges. He’ll be seeing more first and second defense pairings.

So be it, said Montgomery.

“If you’re going to play in the NHL,” said Montgomery, “you’re going to play against everybody.”

After going 0-for-3 on the man advantage in the opener, the B’s clicked on two power plays and killed seven penalties to survive the Nashville Predators, 3-2, on Saturday at the Garden.

Jeremy Swayman turned away 33 shots to outduel Juuse Saros (28 saves).

James van Riemsdyk, a net-from man extraordinaire throughout his career, potted his first two goals as a Bruin, thanks to his specialty. Meanwhile, the B’s took a grand total of seven minors, all in the first two periods, and were only nicked on what would have been their eighth. Brandon Carlo led the way with 7:21 of shorthanded ice time, while Charlie McAvoy had a team-high four blocks.

“We’re getting a tremendous amount of momentum from (the killers) and our fans are so knowledgeable that they’re recognizing the great effort of blocked shots, the great saves from our No. 1 penalty killer Swayman was making,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “And just the sacrifice that our defensemen and forwards working together. At the end of one of them, there was a tremendous ovation. You could tell it elevated our bench.”

The B’s took their second lead of the game at 2:52 of the third period with their second power-play goal of the night. After old friend Jeremy Lauzon high-sticked Matt Poitras, McAvoy sent a wrist shot with purpose toward the net that van Riemsdyk tipped past Juuse Saros.

The Preds had their chances to get the equalizer but the B’s and Swayman were somehow able to keep them at bay for the win.

It was a hint at how the B’s are going to have success this season. Things won’t be as easy or as pretty as they were in their 65-win season last year. But with two very good goalies, a strong defense and a winning DNA that doesn’t disappear overnight, the 2-0 B’s should be a tough out on most nights. Whether they can be more than that remains to be seen.

“Maybe it wasn’t the prettiest game, but we found a way to win and that’s what’s most important,” said van Riemsdyk.

For the second time in as many games, the B’s gave up the first goal of the game. After some good pressure from the fourth line, the Preds quickly transitioned onto offense on a good directional save from Saros. Keifer Sherwood took the big rebound off the right wing boards and took off. He fed Colton Sissons in the inside of the right circle and Sissons blasted a one-timer that beat Swayman.

In his third career start against Nashville, it was the first goal Swayman had allowed the Preds on the 72nd shot.

The B’s were stuck in the mud for much of the period after they took three consecutive penalties, and they killed them all off.

But when the B’s got their first full power play, they evened up the game with the first goal on the man advantage of the year.

It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. From the right circle, Brad Marchand sent a pass down to van Riemsdyk at the right side of the net and van Riemsdyk simply banked it off sprawling defenseman Dante Fabbro to tie the game, the former Flyers’ first as a Bruin.

Van Riemsdyk nearly gave the B’s the lead early in an entertaining second period when he drew Saros out of the net. The winger was forced behind the net but appeared to have a slight opening to tuck the puck home on the short side, but Saros was somehow able to kick his leg behind him and close the door.

The B’s soon went back into kill mode when Jakub Lauko caught Roman Josi with a high stick and was nailed with a double minor. But the B’s expertly killed off both minors, gaining momentum as the four minutes were running down.

Back on full strength, Milan Lucic sprung David Pastrnak for a clean breakaway. Pastrnak threw a few tricks in his bag at Saros, but the outstanding netminder held his ground and made a glove save.

The penalties kept coming for the B’s. First, Hampus Lindholm was flagged for interference and on that kill, a deflected puck off Brandon Carlo squeaked though Swayman, but Derek Forbort was there to pull it off the line.

With seven seconds left in Lindholm’s minor, Marchand crosschecked Gus Nyquist and the refs were about to let it slide. Again, the B’s killed it off and Pastrnak made the Preds pay after Alexandre Carrier hacked him on another breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot.

Facing one of the best goalies in the league, Pastrnak pulled the puck behind him to disguise the puck and snapped a perfect wrister over Saros’ glove. Montgomery compared it to the famous corkscrew delivery of Red Sox legend Luis Tiant. It’s something Swayman has seen before in practice.

“It works every time. He’s good at it,” said a smiling Swayman.

But the B’s kept taking penalties, and they finally paid for it. Lindholm was set to go to the box on a tripping penalty. On the delayed call with the extra skater on for Nashville, Josi’s blue line slapper was tipped home by Sissons to even it up with 3:06 left in the second.

The B’s were on their best behavior in the third, took what the Preds gave them early and, though they had two more PP chances to put it away that they couldn’t convert, they survived some hairy seconds wiht Saros pulled for the extra skater to come away wiht their second win in as many tries.

While no one is expecting him to be the next Bergeron, of course, he is playing a very important role on this team. With training camp and the season opener in the books, the chemistry with his wings David Pastrnak and James van Riemsdyk is decidedly a work in progress. But Zacha feels like it was heading in the right direction..

“I think it’s getting better,” said Zacha on Saturday morning. “We started OK in the first period. I don’t think it was anything great. Then in the second and third, especially the third, I think we were real good as a line and as a team. So I think the idea is to keep building, every practice, every game. Pasta and JVR, they’ve been in the league a long time and I’m excited to get some chemistry going with them.”

Pastrnak scored twice in the opener, but neither time was it when that line was on the ice. They had a near-miss in the first period when van Riemsdyk was set up at the top of the crease and was stopped on a nifty between-the-legs flip attempt. Zacha was hoping the line broke the ice in Saturday’s game against Nashville.

“You always want to contribute to the team, have a good plus-minus and having a goal for our team would be huge,” said Zacha. “If you think about it, for our team to win, we have to be real good every game and we have to be a little better than last game.”

Coach Jim Montgomery has maintained he’ll be patient with the top six – at least to start games – so they have time to develop chemistry and believes the first line will find it at some point.

As far as the power play goes, the three chances the B’s had in the opening win over Chicago looked out of sync, going 0-for-3. One of the biggest differences this year is having the left shot Zacha in the bumper when for years the right-handed Bergeron manned the spot. But the B’s broke out for two power-play goals on Saturday, both from James van Riemsdyk in tight.

While Montgomery felt the PP’s downfall in the first game had more to do with the mindset than anything mechanical, he saw more of an attack mentality on Saturday, which led to success.

“I thought the power play had a shot-first attitude and we had a real good presence at the net front. And I also thought the puck movement was really good,” said Montgomery.

One aspect of Zacha’s season opener was very Bergeron-esque (Bergeronian?). Faceoffs were a concern, losing not just Bergeron but David Krejci and Tomas Nosek. But on Wednesday, Zacha won 8-of-11 draws.

“It was pretty good,” said Zacha. “I know I’m not going to be that high percentage-wise every game, but it’s good. I wanted to jump into the season and feel good in the faceoff circle. It helps you mentally, too, when you have a game like that.”

The dot was more a challenge on Saturday with Ryan O’Reilly in the lineup for the Preds. Zacha was 7-for-16.

Swayman starts

Unsurprisingly, Jeremy Swayman got the nod in net against the Predators after Linus Ullmark played the season opener. Both netminders will see plenty of action this year.

“I can’t say we plan to go every other (game) but it’s the strength of our team, especially when the schedule gets really busy, we’re definitely going to be going every other. They give us a great chance every night so it will keep them fresh,” said Montgomery.

Even if it wasn’t his turn, Swayman might have gotten the start. He’d started two games against the Preds and has stopped all 70 shots he’d faced in the two shutouts.

Need for speed

Montgomery was expecting to see a much different style of play from the Preds with the coaching change from John Hynes to Andrew Brunette.

“They’re quite a bit different,” said Montgomery. “They’re more of a fast break team, more of a transition team than they were before. It’s just the difference in coaching styles. I don’t think they’re there yet. The D-zone’s different. They’re more of a zone in the D-zone, similar to ours. When you’re introducing it to a whole new group, it takes a while before you start to play fast. But between their first game and their second game, they significantly have already improved how fast they play.”

In his eight years in Boston, Lucic’s rugged style of play touched a nerve in the team’s fandom, much like Terry O’Reilly’s did. And it didn’t hurt he was part of the crew that won a Stanley Cup.

Yes, the cynical among us could be forgiven if they viewed the signing with a jaundiced eye, that it was a relatively cheap way (one year, $1 million) to keep the majority of fans happy while the club goes through a transitional year. Lucic, after all, is seven years removed from his last 20-goal season in Edmonton and had just 7-12-19 totals in Calgary last year.

But early indications are that while Lucic is eagerly drinking in all the nostalgia, especially with the Centennial season celebrations going on, he’s also here to get the most out of his still formidable 35-year-old body. He had a very good training camp and, in the season-opening win, he and linemates John Beecher and Jakub Lauko set the tone before Lucic’s backhand pass sprung David Pastrnak for the eventual game-winning goal. Not a bad re-entry.

Lucic has always taken a heart-on-his-sleeve approach to the game, but he comes to his second go-round in Boston with a more mature level of gratitude.

“It’s funny because I feel I went through a lot of soul-searching the last couple of years,” Lucic told the Herald the day after the opener. “You get down, you get frustrated when things aren’t going well for you, you’re not living up to expectations – and you’re not living up to your own expectations. Sometimes you’ve just got to take a step back and your attitude’s got to change. And just be grateful for the opportunity to be back here, be grateful that you’re still playing the game, be grateful that you’re still healthy. I’ve played a long time and it’s not like I’ve played an easy game. I’ve played a hard game not just for the last 17 years, you can add on the three years in junior. So the last 20 years of my life. So I’m just grateful for all of that. And just another thing I talked about a lot was finding and playing with that joyful aggression and just combining the two. Those are the things that keep the game fun for me and that’s how I want to keep going.”

Lucic came into camp in great shape. He continued his off-season workouts in his hometown of Vancouver with trainer Ian Gallagher, the father of Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher. He incorporated a lot of assault bike workouts into his regimen and feels it’s made a difference.

“As you get older, sometime you work smarter,” said Lucic. “You’ve still got to work hard. I don’t want to say it’s smarter versus harder because you’ve still got to work hard. But it’s just knowing your body and doing what you can to keep up. Not just keep up but also push the pace and play at a high level.”

His days of riding on a first line and scoring 30 goals may be behind him, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be forever pigeon-holed as a fourth liner. With Lucic’s solid camp and the way he started the season, he could make coach Jim Montgomery’s expectations evolve. Montgomery said he figured he’d play Lucic 10-12 minutes a night, but Lucic skated 13:39 in the opener. And it was no accident he was on the ice with Pastrnak for the winner.

“We knew that he was going to be important to our leadership corps and I knew that not only is he a physical presence in the league, but he can make plays,” said Montgomery. “I think his ability to make plays is very underrated – by everybody. He’s a guy who can make finishing plays. We saw it in the exhibition season and we saw it (in the opener). The backhand sauce? Not a lot of people make that play that easily at full speed. But if he keeps playing like this, obviously he’s going to keep getting rewarded with more ice time than maybe even I envisioned, never mind everybody else. That’s because he’s built in the team game and he’s making plays.”

After 16-plus years in the league, Lucic’s tough-guy reputation precedes him, especially to young players like Lauko. But the rambunctious Lauko has quickly seen there’s more to Lucic’s game than brute strength.

“He’s been playing for a long time and you can tell he’s not on the ice just to bring the fear. He’s good,” said Lauko. “He made a nice play on the first shift to me in front of the net, unfortunately I didn’t score. He did capitalize a little later with Pasta with the backhand saucer. Looch, with the backhand sauce! He’s a good player and it’s easy to play with him. It’s like when he’s in the O-zone and he’s got the puck on the boards, you know he can hold it, even with two guys on him. It makes it easier for us. Even when we play against any line, everyone knows that Looch is on the ice so that gives us just a little bit of space.”

Lucic is not setting any unrealistic expectations on himself, but he’s not installing any artificial ceilings on what he may be able to deliver, either.

“I’m just doing what I can to help the team in any position I’m put into. I think the whole lineup is going to be pretty flexible throughout the year, not just with myself but with everyone, with certain guys going on certain nights,” said Lucic. “So for me, it’s just bringing it every night and doing the same things. It’s funny, my game has always been the same since I was a rookie. When I play straight lines and physical, that’s when I seem to have the biggest impact on the game. I’m just focusing on that. The main thing for me was I felt like I had a good camp. The two preseason games I played, the last five periods of them, I felt like I played my game. I just wanted to build of of that. Use the emotion, use the adrenaline. I’ve got to find that within a game-to-game basis.”

And so far, it seems like he’s enjoyed every minute of his Boston return. All week he’s been surrounded by some of the greatest stars to have played the game in this town and, in late summer, he learned that he in fact is one of them when was name to the Historic 100 Bruins team. It’s an honor he doesn’t take lightly.

In the pre-game ceremony to the opener, Lucic also got to witness how much the 2011 Stanley Cup team, of which he was very much a part, is appreciated. As usual, Bobby Orr got the biggest roar from the crowd, but members of the ’11 team caused quite a stir when they were introduced, too.

“A close second,” said Lucic with a beaming smile. “I’ll take it!”

Milt Schmidt
Phil Esposito
Johnny Bucyk
Patrice Bergeron
Cam Neely
Terry O’Reilly
Rick Middleton
Brad Marchand
Bill Cowley
Wayne Cashman
David Pastrnak
David Krejci

DEFENSEMAN

Bobby Orr
Ray Bourque
Eddie Shore
Zdeno Chara
Brad Park
Dit Clapper

GOALIES

Frank Brimsek
Gerry Cheevers

Unveiled on Thursday night at the B’s Gala at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, the team of 20 players – 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies – consisted of members from all six Stanley Cup teams, some current Bruins and the wildly popular Lunch Pail AC team that was far more talented than the nickname would indicate.

The top 20 players came from a paring down of the “Historic 100” that was voted on by Bruins’ media members and hockey historians. The Herald had a vote on the committee. There were some obvious no-brainers – Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Phil Esposito, to name a few – but also some tough tough cuts.

Current captain Brad Marchand is fifth among Bruins forwards in all-time points – and counting – and is one of the 12 forwards on the Centennial team. But he’s still star-struck at events like the ones that have been staged this week.

“I still don’t think I ever should be on any list with Bobby, Ray or Cam (Neely) or all the guys who’ve come before me,” said Marchand. “But it does mean an incredible amount with what those guys mean to hockey, not just in Boston but across the world. Being in the room with them is always special, no matter what it is. You’ve got to stop and watch them. And that feeling will never go away.”

Rick Middleton, now a teammate of Marchand’s on the Centennial team, was tickled as well.

“I grew up in Toronto, Original Six era, Maple Leaf fan when I was a kid. You had to be. Bu they won four Cups so, I mean, c’mon. But I had all the cards, the Bruins cards, the Rangers cards. There were only 120 players in the whole,” said Middleton. “I listened to the old Bruins games on the radio from the old Boston Garden lying on the floor. And then all of a sudden I am one. And to be one of the top hundred, that’s awesome.”

The Gala was the culmination of the three-day reunion for the Bruins’ alumni. Gerry Cheevers, who made perhaps the toughest of them all in the goaltender category with Frank Brimsek aka “Mr. Zero,” raved about the festivities.

“It’s been great. They really outdid themselves,” said Cheevers. “Everyone has had a great time, meeting guys you hadn’t seen in years, different eras. Eddie Shore’s son is here. It’s just really a great time. A hundred years of memories, right?”

Stacked defense

If there’s one, nearly continuous thread that has held the Bruins’ organization together over its 100-year history it’s been the presence of great defensemen. From Eddie Shore to Fernie Flaman to Orr to Brad Park to Bourque to Zdeno Chara, the Bruin blue line has been well patrolled over the last century.

Charlie McAvoy seems poised to take his place in that line, and some of those greats agreed with that assessment.

Park believes his almost there, and he has to seize it.

“Very nice player. I like Charlie, I’m cheering for him. He’s from Long Beach, where we had a practice facility (with the Rangers), so I’m kind of cheering for him. I hope he does it,” said Park on Wednesday at the Garden. “I’m cheering for him and I hope he continues to grow and continues to put some numbers up because I think this is kind of a transition year and they’re going to have a couple of good guys on the roster and guys are going to have to stand up and be the go-to people. Everyone wants to be a go-to person and you really have to take it upon yourself. I remember when Ray Bourque was my protege. After a couple of years, I had to go to Ray and say, ‘Ray, look it, when you’re on the ice, you have to control the game. When I’m on the ice, I’m going to control the game. So don’t be looking at me, waiting for me to do it. You go and do it.’ And he did. And he became a superior defenseman in NHL history.”

Chara, of course, helped ease McAvoy’s transition into the NHL.

“You could sense from the first time he stepped on the ice that he was going to be a special player and he’s proving that he’s getting better and better and he’s really finding himself in the mode where he’s going to be very steady and solid for many years,” said Chara. “I think he’s going to still improve. He’s got so much ability to improve. And he’s going to add to that with his leadership. I’m excited for him.”

Bourque has been impressed as well.

“I think he has the potential of doing that. He’s got the whole game. He’s got the physical game, the skating game, he’s got some great vision and shot,” said Bourque. “He’s got great instincts that are very special. I love watching him play, the potential is there, it’s just a matter of time. He’s already talked about as being among the best in the league and for him, it’s just about getting better and better.”

Dirty area

Trent Frederic had the distinction of scoring the first goal of the B’s Centennial season. And while it’s always nice to get the first goal out of the way, the manner in which he scored it – standing in front of the net, fighting off a defender and tipping it home – was just as positive. Frederic has said he wants to produce more around the net, and that’s music to coach Jim Montgomery’s ears.

“It’s been a focus for our group and I think Freddie knows that,” said Montgomery. “And he’s really skilled there. He’s a real gifted athlete, so we talked to him about being in those areas. We thought he got good at it last year and I’m happy to hear he’s telling you guys that he wants to get better at because that’s something we need not only from him but several of our forwards, to be a more efficient offensive team.”

Mixing it up

After Montgomery mixed up his lines midway through the season opener, the lines in Thursday’s practice was back to where they were at the start of the game. With the player turnover creating new combos, Montgomery wants to give the groupings, especially the top six, time to grow together – to a certain point.

“That’s the way I envision handling it. To let them play it out and have more opportunities to play with each other,” said Montgomery. “But as the game goes on, I find in the third period you have to trust your gut no matter what’s going on and if you see an opportunity to get someone in a position where you think two players are clicking, I think you’ve got to do that in the third. I’d be more patient in the first and second.”

And with the season opener behind them, they still are very much a work in progress. But at least they banked their first two points of the season.

The B’s leaned into their strengths – goaltending and defense – and received goals from David Pastrnak (2) and Trent Frederic to beat the young Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1 at the Garden on Wednesday.

What did the coach think of the overall team game?

“Very average,” said Jim Montgomery, who was mixing up his lines by the second period. “I didn’t think we grew our game. But it’s the first game of the year. I think back to our first game last year and the only thing I liked about last year more than this year is we played faster. I didn’t think we played fast enough, consistently enough. But you expect there’s going to be a lot of things to work on. You expect that in Game 1. We got the result. We did a lot of good things I thought in the third period to build our game, especially playing with a lead.”

They received contributions from rookies Matt Poitras (first NHL assist), John Beecher (solid fourth-line work, first NHL fight) and prodigal son Milan Lucic (assist on game-winner) in the win. For Lucic, returning to the Garden as a Bruin for the first time since 2015 and with so many retired teammates from the 2011 Stanley Cup in the building, it was an emotion-packed night.

“Obviously, it’s a special time in your life, those years that I spent here. To be able to come back to a place that’s so special to me, it’s good to have emotion and show emotion,” said Lucic.

It was a competitive, if inelegant, contest.

The intriguing subplot to the B’s Centennial season opener was the arrival of Connor Bedard, considered by most observers to be the next great generational talent.

And at 5:37 of the first period, he joined a rather elite group – he scored his first career goal against the Bruins, just as Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux had done before him. Former Bruins Taylor Hall and Ryan Donato picked up the assists, but it was Bedard’s lightning quickness behind the net that made the goal happen. He took the puck below the goal line and, with Linus Ullmark leaning one way, the rookie darted to the open side, beat Ullmark’s right pad and tucked it home.

That was the last time Ullmark would be beaten. He would later make a stop on Bedard (six shots on net) on a partial breakaway.

The B’s evened it up in the first, thanks in part to their own talented rookie. Hanging onto the puck, Poitras spotted an open Brandon Carlo at the right point. The lanky defenseman fired a shot toward the net that Frederic tipped past goalie Arvid Soderblom at 11:22.

“I felt pretty good out there. It was nice to get that first point out of the way and then everything kind of rolls from there,” said Poitras, who won 5-of-7 draws and got bumped up to play with Brad Marchand later in the game.

The B’s held a 13-9 shot advantage in the first, but with three new centermen, they were not quite in sync, especially on special teams. They didn’t produce much on the lone power play they had in the first and they had to survive Chicago’s one man-advantage.

The B’s best line of the game was the fourth line of Lucic, Beecher and Jakub Lauko and, after an extended shift inside the Chicago zone, Lauko drew a penalty in the second. The B’s power play woes continued, however, and the B’s barely pressured Soderblom.

Marchand later took a shift with Beecher and Lauko and he, too, drew a tripping penalty, this time on Bedard. But again, there was nothing doing on the PP.

“I think every year the power play’s a work in progress,” said Montgomery, whose team held a 34-21 shot advantage. “If you have years where guys come back, that makes it easier. But there’s a rhythm they’ve got to get into and that takes time.”

After the B’s had to kill a penalty of their own, they finally took the lead at 13:09 of the second. With Morgan Geekie pressuring Jarred Tinordi along the boards, Lucic stole the puck in the neutral zone and broke in on a 2-on-1 with Pastrnak. With both players on their off wings, Lucic flipped a backhand pass to Pastrnak and the sharpshooter snapped it past Soberblom’s glove.

While Poitras got his first NHL point in the first period, fellow rookie Beecher notched his first NHL fight in the third period. And he didn’t have much of a choice. Beecher hit Cole Guttman from behind and got two minutes for it. Jason Dickinson did not like the hit and went after Beecher. The rookie took a couple of good shots on the noggin, but hung in there and delivered the last shot of the fight before the officials broke it up. Dickinson got the 2-5-10 for the instigator while Beecher got two for the original infraction and a five-minute fighting major.

“He did well. He could use a little work, so I could give him a few pointers but good to see him stand up for himself there,” said Lucic.

The B’s forced Soderblom to make several key saves in the third to keep the Hawks within striking until he was pulled for an extra skater. Then the B’s at last drove the stake in when Marchand broke out of the defensive zone and fed Pastrnak for the empty-netter.