The new NHL season begins Wednesday night when the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals raise their first championship banner to the Capital One Center rafters before taking on the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins reached the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning after exceeding expectations with a 50-20-12 regular season record.
The B’s have most of their regular lineup healthy and ready to go for the season opener. Veteran center Patrice Bergeron missed the preseason due to injury but is expected to play against the Capitals. Bruins defenseman Torey Krug, however, won’t be in the lineup after suffering an ankle injury on Saturday.
Tuukka Rask will start in net for Boston. The veteran goalie has struggled versus the Caps throughout his career, posting a 1-10-5 record with a .889 save percentage and a 3.07 GAA in 17 games played against Washington.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (0-0-0)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Danton Heinen
Ryan Donato–Sean Kuraly–David Backes
Joakim Nordstrom–Noel Acciari–Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
John Moore–Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk–Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (0-0-0)
Alex Ovechkin–Evgeny Kuznetsov–Brett Connolly
Jakub Vrana–Nicklas Backstrom–T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky–Lars Eller–Chandler Stephenson
Nathan Walker–Nic Dowd–Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitri Orlov–Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos–John Carlson
Brooks Orpik–Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
