Bruins Benders Podcast Game Day Preview
Game 1: Boston Bruins (0-0-0) at Florida Panthers (0-0-0)
Date: Tuesday, October 8
Time: 7:00 pm
TV: ESPN
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Boston +1.5 ML +136
Florida -1.5 ML -162
O/U 5.5
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
Boston Bruins Notes:
The Bruins were eliminated by the Florida Panthers from the Stanley Cup Playoffs each of the last two seasons. Boston added defenseman Nikita Zadorov and forwards Max Jones and Mark Kastelic to match some of the size and toughness that Florida has used to defeat Boston in the past. The Bruins still have question marks at the line right wing and will look for many players to step up to offer balanced scoring.
Florida Panthers Notes:
On Tuesday night, the Panthers will raise their Stanley Cup banner to the rafters and begin their title defense. Florida returns eight of their top nine forwards from last season.
Boston Bruins Lineup:
Zacha-E. Lindholm-Pastrnak
Marchand-Coyle-Geekie
Jones-Frederic-Brazeau
Beecher-Kastelic-Koepke
Lindholm-McAvoy
Lohrei-Carlo
Zadorov-Peeke
Korpisalo
Swayman
Florida Panthers Lineup:
Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart
Rodrigues-Bennett-Tkachuk
Luostarinen-Lundell-Samoskevich
Gadjovich-J. Boqvist-Greer
Forsling-Ekblad
Mikkola-Balinskis
Kulikov- A. Boqvist
Bobrovsky
Driedger
Players To Watch:
Boston – Captain Brad Marchand needs one goal to tie Rick Middleton for fourth place in Bruins history with 402. Johnny Bucyk (545), Phil Esposito (459), and Patrice Bergeron (427) occupy the top three spots. Jeremy Swayman, a 25-year-old Alaska native, was a first-time All-Star last season as he went 25-10-8 with a 2.53 GAA and a .916 save percentage. In three career games against the Panthers, he is 1-1-1 with a 3.69 GAA and an .875 percentage.
Florida – Sasha Barkov is the franchise leader in career games (737), goals (266), assists (445) and points (711). Gustav Forsling led Panthers defensemen with 39 points and topped the league with a plus-56 rating.
Injuries:
Boston – Matt Poitras (Undisclosed)
Florida – Tomas Nosek (Undisclosed)
Next game
Boston – October 10 vs Montreal at 7:00 pm
Florida – October 10 vs Ottawa at 7:00 pm
Zacha-E. Lindholm-Pastrnak
Marchand-Coyle-Geekie
Jones-Frederic-Brazeau
Beecher-Kastelic-Koepke
I’m okay with the first 3 lines considering Johnson isn’t signed yet. The 4th line in my opinion should be a little different because of they have Koepke is a left shot playing on the right wing. Kastelic is a right shot and he is not that much better on faceoffs than Beecher. l like Beecher better at center than left wing.
Koepke, Beecher and Kastelic is a better line than the way Montgomery has put them together. I’ve watched Beecher play left wing and he doesn’t look as comfortable, a little bit lost out there. He is much better at center. When Poitras is ready to go the 3rd line will look like better as well and Frederic is better on his off wing, right wing so what happens to Brazeau or does Frederic go to the left wing.
Frederic, Poitras and Brazeau or
Jones, Poitras and Frederic or
Jones, Frederic and Poitras
I definitely love the size, speed and grit of the Bruins this year.
Zacha 6’4″-E. Lindholm 6’1″-Pastrnak 6’1″
Marchand 5’9″-Coyle 6’3″-Geekie 6’3″
Jones 6’3″-Frederic 6’3″-Brazeau 6’5″
Beecher 6’3″-Kastelic 6’4″-Koepke 6’1″
Extra Skaters: Poitras 5’11”, Tufte 6’6″
H.Lindholm 6’4″ and McAvoy 6’1″
Lohrei 6’5″ and Carlo 6’5″
Zadoroz 6’6″ and Peeke 6’3″
Extra Defensemen: Wotherspoon 6’1″,
Regula 6’4″, Mitchell 6’0″