Jim Montgomery Explains Notable Lineup Change For Bruins Home Opener

It was a rough season opener for Mason Lohrei as the Boston Bruins defenseman finished with a game-worst minus-three rating.

And Lohrei won’t get a chance to redeem himself Thursday night when the Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens in their home opener at TD Garden.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery elected to pull Lohrei and hard-hitting bottom-six forward Max Jones from the lineup in favor of defenseman Parker Wotherspoon and newcomer Riley Tufte.

Montgomery explained that the 23-year-old Lohrei — and Jones to a lesser extent — being a healthy scratch wasn’t a punishment due to their poor play against the Florida Panthers as Montgomery wanted to get some fresh faces into the lineup.

“It’s early in the year, we want to get people in the lineup, we want to get people acclimated to game speed,” Montgomery told reporters following morning skate, per team-provided video. ”The guys that are coming out, it’s not a reflection (of them). The whole team was porous last game. It’s just an opportunity to get two guys in.”

The Bruins certainly will lose some playmaking from the blue line with Lohrei out, but will look for Wotherspoon to help shore up the back end in front of Jeremy Swayman. Wotherspoon played in 41 games last season and recorded eight assists. He is expected to be on Boston’s third pairing with Andrew Peeke.

The Bruins won’t lose any size with Tufte replacing Jones. Tufte, who signed a one-year, $775,000 deal with Boston in the offseason, stands at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds and contributed just one goal and one assist in five games with the Colorado Avalanche last season.

Tufte is slated to play the left wing on Boston’s third line next to Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau.

Tufte will also get his first taste of the the Bruins and Canadiens rivalry. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.