COLUMBUS, Ohio – The nerves will be a little higher than normal at puck drop for the Bruins season opener vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
It’s totally the norm for all players to get a few butterflies prior to the season opener, but the B's will also be featuring four players set to make their NHL debuts against the Blue Jackets in a game that could go awfully good, or awfully rough, for a Boston team starting without injured Patrice Bergeron.
Give the Bruins credit for rolling the dice a bit and seeing what kind of upside big, mobile D-men Brandon Carlo and Robbie O’Gara might be over the status quo, but there will undoubtedly be a learning curve that goes along with it.
“It’s only normal that they’d be nervous tonight when they played here [in the preseason] or not, but at the same time those young seem to be pretty relaxed so far,” said Claude Julien. “Every [young D-man] has a challenge depending on who they are. If they’re small, they’ll be realizing that it’s strong men out there, but we’ve got some big guys that move pretty well mobility-wise. Both of them, I’ve liked their sticks breaking plays up and moving the puck up the ice.
“Right now, I think it’s about getting some experience, and the more confidence they go in with, and they understand it’s going to help them, I guess they’ll adapt a lot better that way. They’re going to make mistakes, but so are the other guys that have been here forever.”
The rookie players won’t be just dipping their toes into the NHL waters either. Carlo is set to start the game in a top-pair role with Zdeno Chara after a spectacular training camp from the 19-year-old, and 23-year-old O’Gara will be playing top-four minutes paired with Torey Krug, as well. Up front, Austin Czarnik will be centering the third line, after recovering from getting crushed last weekend by a Radko Gudas head shot, and Danton Heinen will be playing top-six right wing alongside David Krejci and Ryan Spooner.
It’s pretty clear the nerves are going to be there for all the players with friends and family in the stands and their NHL dreams fully realized.
Boston Bruins
Carlo called it “another level of excited”, and Czarnik will be playing in front of nearly 20 friends and family members after starring for Miami University in the Buckeye State not too long ago.
“I’m a little bit [nervous]. I’ve been thinking about it the past couple of days,” said Carlo, a 2015 second-round pick in a draft that netted a ton of young talent for the Bruins. “I’ve been given this opportunity, and I’m just really excited to go out there and help this team in every way that I can.
“I just want to focus on doing my job and playing the game the way that I did throughout the preseason, and continue to move the puck well. I feel like I can accomplish that and I’m really excited. I’m a competitive guy in each and every way and I’ve always been that way growing up. I always wanted to beat my older brothers in everything that we did, so I’m excited to go out there and prove myself against the top lines.”
David Backes said he could relate to the young guys, and still remembers his first game in the new defunct Mellon Arena against the Pittsburgh Penguins where he got crushed on his very first shift, but still managed to earn a helper on a Doug Weight goal.
“I tell them Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh [was my first game] and they give me a goofy look. Then I know it was a little bit ago,” said Backes. “But it brings back great memories. I think everybody in this room has those memories of their first, and hopefully we make it a memorable one for all the guys in this room.”
Here are the line combos and D-pairings based on morning skate:
Marchand-Backes-Pastrnak
Spooner-Krejci-Heinen
Beleskey-Czarnik-Hayes
Moore-Nash-Acciari
Chara-Carlo
Krug-O'Gara
Liles-C. Miller
Rask