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The Bruins have opened their season with three straight wins, grabbing victories against Washington, Phoenix, and Florida to start the season. This was all done while missing multiple key players in the form of Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy, so to say that Bruins fans should be happy is an understatement.
David Pastrnak dominated in the opening win against Washington, posting six shots on net while grabbing four points. If he can get back to the form that allowed him to score at a 0.63 goal-per-game pace between 2018-2020 (86 goals in 136 games) then the Bruins should be able to do better than just keep afloat until reinforcements arrive. Linus Ullmark grabbed the win and made 33 saves on 35 shots faced.
As expected, Boston showed no mercy against the Coyotes in a home matchup. The Bruins came in well-rested after a couple of days off and put up six goals in a 6-3 win. Pavel Zacha stepped up and grabbed three points and his first goal as a Bruin in the win. This was far more of a team effort with both Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron being held scoreless, despite Boston scoring six times. Jeremy Swayman stopped 21 of 24 shots in the win.
The big guns delivered for Boston again against Florida as both Bergeron and Pastrnak scored goals. Winger Jake DeBrusk delivered his best game of the season, grabbing two goals and an assist, and kept the theme of “next man up” for the Bruins. Linus Ullmark again showed extremely well and posted a save percentage of .927 while stopping 38 of 41 shots faced. It’s a small sample, but through three games, Ullmark has easily been the Bruins’ best goalie.
Top Goal Scorer: Multiple players with 2 goals
Top Point Getter: David Pastrnak (5 points in three games)
Top Goalie: Linus Ullmark - 2 games played (2-0-0, 2.50 GAA and .934 save%)
Bruins upcoming schedule for the Week of October 18-24:
- Tuesday, October 18 at Ottawa Senators
- Thursday, October 20 vs. Anaheim Ducks
- Saturday, October 22 vs. Minnesota Wild
Bruins DraftKings Fantasy Preview for Upcoming Games
Injury update: Charlie McAvoy (IR), Brad Marchand (IR), Matt Grzelcyk (out - multiple weeks)
Tuesday, October 18 at Ottawa Senators
The Bruins will be coming into this game one night after grabbing a heartfelt win off last year’s President’s Trophy-winning Panthers. The lack of rest will certainly be something they have to overcome and they’ll also face a Senators team who will be ready to go after dropping each of their first two games. Ottawa was the darling sleeper pick of many analysts to make some noise in the Eastern Conference but has just three goals to show on the season through two games. The Senators’ new acquisitions have been getting chances and they’re averaging 32.0 shots on net per game, but have also given up 34.0 shots per game as well.
The Bruins have absolutely owned this series, winning 14 of the last 16 meetings between these squads. The lack of rest the Bruins will be coming in with could lead to an uglier game but with it being still early in the season — and with Boston humming up and down the lineup — expect to see more key production from role players against a Senators team still trying to find itself.
Thursday, October 20 vs. Anaheim Ducks
This will be the Bruins’ third game in four nights and fourth game in six nights. The good news though is that they’ll be at home and playing the Anaheim Ducks, who have gotten off to what can only be called a horrific start to the season. The Ducks were 0-2 to start their Eastern road trip as of writing and were outscored 13-5 in those two games, allowing a hat trick and nine shots on net to the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad on Monday.
The Ducks goalies both have save percentages well under .900% and the team will be playing its fourth game in six nights as well, but will also be on the road. This is a spot for Pastrnak to potentially break away in the team goal-scoring lead.
Saturday, October 22 vs. Minnesota Wild
This sets up as the most interesting game of the week for the Bruins. The Wild were a solid team in 2021-22 but their goalies have been absolutely vaporized through three starts this season, allowing a total of 20 goals in just three games. The Wild lost some key players this offseason and their change in net is not working as planned right now with veteran Marc-Andre Fleury sporting just a .850 save%. Fleury is very familiar with the Bruins from his days in Pittsburgh but the Wild will likely need to score a bundle in this one just to keep up.
With Minnesota allowing over 35.0 shots on net per game and sporting the seventh worst penalty-kill, a more rested Bruins squad should be going off in this one if they can find the energy after a busy first two weeks.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.