Three Things For Bruins Fans To Watch In Preseason Game Vs. Rangers

The Bruins and Rangers are back at it Thursday night, this time on the bright lights of Broadway with the Blueshirts hosting the B's at Madison Square Garden.

Bruins fans can catch all the action starting at 6 p.m. ET on NESN with a full hour of pregame coverage leading into the showdown with New York.

HOW TO WATCH
6 p.m.: "Back to Work" preseason: Bruins at Rangers preview (NESN)
7 p.m.: Bruins at Rangers (NESN)

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THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. David Pastrnak takes center stage
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery revealed Pastrnak will make his preseason debut, saying Thursday there's no better place than Broadway for the winger to put on a show. There probably won't be much to take from Pastrnak's on-ice debut, but it's always good for your best player to be on schedule with the new season. After the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs, Pastrnak joined his native Czechia at the world championships. He even scored the game-winning goal in the gold-medal game in front of the home nation. Pastrnak did mention a potential hip injury, but there haven't been any sort of setbacks, and he appears ready to go. Pavel Zacha is also making the trip, presumably centering Pastrnak's line Thursday night.

2. Boston's boosted blue line
Montgomery also confirmed we'll get the first look at a pairing of Charlie McAvoy and newly signed defenseman Nikita Zadorov on the Bruins' back end. Zadorov is going to give Boston an element needed on the blue line. The 6-foot-6, 248-pounder obviously brings size and some snarl to the lineup. Bruins captain Brad Marchand expressed relief he'll no longer have to jockey for space around the net now that Zadorov wears the Spoked-B. A pairing of Zadorov and McAvoy should be borderline elite, and it will be interesting to see how they play off each other as the season progresses.

3. Lingering nastiness?
This is the second Bruins-Rangers preseason game in five days. That alone could lead to some resentment for anyone getting run in both games, but Sunday night's preseason opener had a good deal of chippiness. Bruins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon wasn't happy with some of his interactions with Rangers forward Brennan Othmann, and the two later tussled. Othmann actually took some exception to the confrontation, and you do wonder whether there might be some lingering tension between those players (Wotherspoon is in the lineup) or the two teams in general. Familiarity breeds contempt, and that might be enhanced when you have players at the bottom of these rosters looking to make an impact in any way they can.

What are you going to be watching in Thursday night's Bruins-Rangers game? Leave your comments below.