Coming off a year where the Bruins made it to the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the hopes are very high heading into the next NHL season. Many people believe that the Bruins are good enough to be hoisting the Stanley Cup by the end of the year. Those expectations will be tested in the regular season. The entire regular season schedule for the Boston Bruins does not come out until later today, but the NHL released every team’s home-opener for the upcoming season. During this, The Bruins found out who they will face in the first three games of the season.
AT Washington Capitals (October 3rd):
The Boston Bruins open up the 2018-2019 season against the Washington Capitals. The Capitals are coming off their best year yet, winning the 2018 Stanley Cup. The Bruins will have a front-row seat to see the Capitals hoist their championship banner into the rafters that night. This seems fitting for a team like the Bruins to play against in the first game of the season with the amount of expectations on them this year.
Noel Acciari swats in his own rebound to give the #Bruins their second goal in the first three minutes of their game against the #Capitals. pic.twitter.com/ca1rJ3AWwE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 29, 2017
The Capitals swept the season series last year, winning three out of three. The Bruins look to live up to expectations early, and there is no better way to do it then by knocking off the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
AT Buffalo Sabres (October 4th):
Right after the Bruins play the Capitals they will have to head up to Buffalo, New York. The Sabres regular season home-opener is going to be against the Bruins. Buffalo is coming off a year where they were the worst team in the NHL last year in a season, scoring only had 62 points. The Sabres have the worst record in the NHL since they last made the playoffs in 2011, going 197-293-70 in those seven seasons. That is a point total of 464 while every other team has at least 499 points.
The Sabres do look to have a very bright future. They hold the first overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, and it is a lock that they will draft Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin will be leading the way for the Sabres next year with Jack Eichel and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Rasmus Dahlin with a nasty shootout goal at Team Sweden's practice this morning #WJC2018 pic.twitter.com/jcetDktWTP
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 27, 2017
The Bruins will look to see if this young Sabres team is legit and not the joke of the league that they have been.
VS Ottawa Senators (October 8th)
In their first home game of the regular season, the Bruins face the second worst team from a year ago, the Ottawa Senators (67 points). The Senators’ future is not as bright as the Sabres’. One of the main questions is if Erik Karlsson will even be on the Senators’ roster by the time the puck drops for this game.
Boston swept the season series from last year winning the games by a combined margin of 13 goals. The Senators seem like a long way away from what they were two years ago when they knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs. This game should be a nice treat for home fans if it goes as expected, and will be a good way to get the season at TD Garden off to a hot start.
Tickets go on sale for TD Garden games on Friday, June 22nd. With the first three games of the season set, Boston look to show that they are worth the hype.