Both teams had their game-day skates and press briefings and claim they’re ready for Thursday night and the season.
"Everyone seems ready to go, and is pretty anxious for the puck to drop," forward Milan Lucic said after the Bruins’ morning skate. "Everybody can feel it in the air, and I think we’re all pretty excited to get things going. I see that we’re on Versus, so it’s big across the U.S., and we want to start the season off right."
Lucic is also happy to be starting the season in front of the TD Garden fans. This is the first time the Bruins are starting at home since 2005-06. They have gone 35-33-16-0 in season openers and are 28-13-11-0 in season openers at home.
"When is the last time the Bruins had a chance to start at home?" Lucic asked with a smile. "We’re excited to do that. We’ve obviously set the bar high for ourselves, and we’re focused on being one of the top teams in the East this year. We need to just focus on ourselves and what we can do to get there this year."
The Bruins know the damage that reigning Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin can do, and they’re ready for the challenge of playing the player many consider the best in the world right now.
"It’s always a challenge when you’re playing Ovechkin," head coach Claude Julien said. "I think we’ve done a pretty good job over the course of the last season, and this year is a new challenge again. Hopefully, we can minimize the damage one of the best players in the league can do."
But while Ovechkin is obviously a priority, the Capitals have other weapons, too, like center Nicklas Backstrom (88 points last season) and winger Alexander Semin (79 points).
"Obviously, you have to keep an eye on Ovechkin, but he’s not the only one they have that can hurt you," Boston defenseman Dennis Wideman said. "They’re a deep team. They are loaded up front and on the back end. They’ve got guys like Mike Green, who can burn you too."
The Capitals also seem to have the same respect for the Bruins.
"They have every bit a team if not better than they did last year," Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said. "They didn’t finish last season, I think, the way they would’ve liked to, so they’re hungry. This is a real big test for us. I think we’re going against the best team in the league, and we’ll see how we make out."
Bruins center David Krejci, who was out all preseason, will be in the lineup Thursday night between his usual wingers, Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder.
"I'm excited," Krejci said. "I'm ready to go."
Julien plans to keep a close eye on Krejci, and if needed, he will limit his playing time.
"We're going to have to see how he handles the ice time," Julien said. "Whether that means a little less and kind of work him in, we may have to do that. But if he's going well and he's in pretty good shape, we'll keep using him as we go along. That's what I tend to do with guys who come back from situations like that. Without predicting how much time they're going to be on the ice, it's about keeping a close eye on them and see how they handle it."
Here are the probable lines for the opener:
Bruins
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Marc Savard-Marco Sturm
Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
Mark Recchi-Patrice Bergeron-Chuck Kobasew
Shawn Thornton-Steve Begin/Vladimir Sobotka-Byron Bitz
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris
Andrew Ference-Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart-Matt Hunwick
Goaltender
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Healthy scratches
Johnny Boychuk
Capitals
Forwards
Alexander Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Alexander Semin
Brooks Laich-Brendan Morrison-Mike Knuble
Quintin Laing-David Steckel-Chris Clark
Boyd Kane-Boyd Gordon-Matt Bradley
Defensemen
Shaone Morrisonn-Mike Green,
Tom Poti-Milan Jurcina,
John Erskine-Brian Pothier
Goaltenders
Jose Theodore
Seymon Varlamov
Healthy scratches
Tyler Sloan, Jeff Schultz, Michael Nylander, Eric Fehr
