The Boston Bruins opened up their 2022-23 season Wednesday night with a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
The Bruins now are 1-0 on the season while the Capitals are 0-1.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Opening up its season shorthanded, Boston played far from a dominant game, but got everything it needed from its biggest stars.
Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Taylor Hall and David Krejci combined for four Bruins goals and nine points total, doing exactly what a contending team should expect out of its top two lines. Boston quickly got its first power-play goal out of the way, with Bergeron firing a rebound past Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper. Pastrnak quickly added a goal of his own to give Boston a 2-0 lead by the end of the opening frame.
Playing from ahead, the Bruins were able to focus on playing mistake-free hockey throughout the remainder of the game. Though it wasn't perfect, Boston's new-look defense did just enough to keep Linus Ullmark clean and hold on for the win.
Jake DeBrusk did not play in the third period due to an upper-body injury.
STARS OF THE GAME
-- Pastrnak tallied four points in his 2021 debut, scoring a terrific first-period goal and adding a triad of assists.
-- Krejci had quite the night in his return to the NHL, scoring the dagger goal in the third period following his early pair of assists.
-- Jakub Lauko, making his NHL debut, drew two third-period penalties in a stretch of pestering play. Neither penalty led to a goal but they forced Washington to spend the middle of the final period playing defense, which was a key stretch for Boston.
WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set the odds of Bergeron opening the scoring at +1500, and the 19-year veteran delivered. A $100 bet on the Bruins captain would have netted out a total of $1,600.
UP NEXT ON NESN
The Bruins will play their home opener on Saturday when they host the Arizona Coyotes at TD Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame and postgame coverage on NESN.
