BOSTON — The Bruins won their home opener against Original Six rival Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night to improve to 1-1 on the season. Boston newcomer Nikita Zadorov admitted after the game that despite the win, it still wasn’t the way the Bruins hoped to play going forward.
“Not 6-4. I would rather win 1-0,” he said. “I think we were pretty good offensively today. I thought we were hard on the forecheck, we stripped a lot of pucks. We stayed hard on their (defensemen), especially (the Canadiens were) on a back-to-back. I thought we were really good up there. Defensively, there’s a lot of room to improve.”
Zadorov finished the game with two assists and two hits across 26 shifts and 18:47 minutes of ice time in his TD Garden debut. Paired with Charlie McAvoy as the Bruins’ top defensive pairing, the duo found chemistry playing in their first game together.
“It was good. I think we were buzzing. Offensively, I thought we created a lot of chances, a lot of looks,” Zadorov said. “In the third period, they had a pushback. A couple of bad bounces. I broke my stick on the fourth goal. Just a little bit unlucky, but I thought we were pretty solid together.”
The monstrous defenseman notched his 100th career assist on Mark Kastelic’s first-period goal, but the milestone wasn’t as important as the Bruins’ win to Zadorov.
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“It’s nice. It’s always nice to get on the board and help your team to score a goal,” he said. “It’s not my mentality to go up there and put up some points, but it’s great to contribute offensively for sure.”
Featured image via Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images
