Rev up the Zamboni engines. Tonight (Thursday 7pm) on Madison Square Garden ice, the Bruins will face the New York Rangers in their final preseason game. With a record of 1-3-1 to this point, the locals have had strong performances thus far from their threesome of rookies. Forwards Matthew Poitras, John Beecher, and defenseman Mason Lohrei, have imbedded their play in the mind of coach Montgomery at a very good time, as the Boston roster is very close to being set. The teenaged Poitras has certainly impressed, with two goals, and an assist already, showing from preseason game one, that despite his young age (19), he has the tools that could earn him a spot on the roster. Beecher has shown some strength on the fourth line, playing with Milan Lucic and Jakub Lauko. Lohrei, at 6’ 4” has shown signs that he may have the ability to fit in nicely with the current Bs blue line corps, but management may think it best to give him some time in Providence to mature. In either case, the trio has surely performed at a level that will earn them consideration from Bruins coach Jim Montgomery when the roster is being finalized.
With the completion of the preseason, the Bruins set roster will open their 2023-24 Centennial regular season schedule on Wednesday (October 11 at 7:30pm) on TD Garden ice when they host the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL’s #1 pick, Connor Bedard. Game two of the brief home stand will take place on Saturday (October 14 at 7pm), before the Bs head out on a four game road trip with stops in San Jose (Sharks10/19), Los Angeles (Kings 10/21), Anaheim (Ducks 10/22), and the final stop in Chicago to take on the Blackhawks (Tuesday, 10/24).