Gameday Preview – 10/3/2018 – Boston Bruins v. Washington Capitals

Time: 730p EST

Station: NBC Sports Network

Preview:

Tonight is the night the Washington Capitals have always dreamed for and that tonight they finally get to raise a Stanley Cup Champions banner into the rafters at Capital One Arena. But with all this excitement, it is also time to get back to work and strive towards their new goal to go back to back like their rival the Pittsburgh Penguins did the previous two seasons.

Now for the Boston Bruins they are raring to go and spoil tonight for the Capitals. The Bruins are hungry to start their campaign back to the playoffs and are a heavy favorite in the Atlantic Division.

Boston Bruins:

Lineup:

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Danton Heinen

Ryan Donato – Sean Kuraly – David Backes

Joakim Nordstrom – Noel Acciari – Chris Wagner

Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy

John Moore – Brandon Carlo

Matt Grzelcyk – Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

Keys to the Game:

1. Get the jump on the Capitals

– The Capitals are going to have a great moment when they raise their Cup Banner tonight, and Boston will hope that it’ll serve as a minor distraction that they can take advantage of.

2. Young kids need to step up

– Last season the Bruins youngsters developed nicely, but now this time they will need to step up their game, and what a better start and motivator than facing the defending Cup Champions.

Washington Capitals:

Lineup:

Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Brett Connolly

Jakub Vrana – Nicklas Backstrom – TJ Oshie

Andre Burakovsky – Lars Eller – Chandler Stephenson

Nathan Walker – Nic Dowd – Devante Smith-Pelly

Christian Djoos – John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov – Matt Niskanen

Brooks Orpik – Madison Bowey

Braden Holtby

Pheonix Copley

Keys to the Game:

1. Get an early lead

– As mentioned above, as great as the Banner Raising Cermony will be, it is also a distraction. If the Capitals can get the first goal, let alone quickly into the game, then they can set the tone in their favor and truly get a focus on this game.

2. Fresh legs

– The Capitals for the first time is experiencing a short summer that was filled with celebration. They will need to get their legs moving in this one as they will be pushed hard by the Bruins.

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