BOSTON BRUINS at TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS: GAME #2

Ceremony Time: 6:00 pm Eastern Time

Game Time: 7:00 pm Eastern Time

Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON

Broadcast/Streaming: CBC, NBCSN, Game Centre Live, CBC Sports

Opponent SBNation Site: Stanley Cup of Chowder

Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs officially kick off the 99th NHL season, with their Centennial Season pre-game ceremony. The Ceremony kicks off at 6PM and can be seen on CBC, and streamed on the CBC Sports website (linked above).

After losing the season opener on Wednesday night in overtime to the Ottawa Senators, the only thing that anyone could talk about was Auston Matthews scoring four goals in his first ever NHL game (Buy a commemorative t-shirt here, please, my kids need shoes).

While Matthews is the name on everyone's lips, William Nylander and Zach Hyman were there beside him on the ice, grabbing some assists and putting other teams on alert for their line.

And you know what? That’s fine. Let the Bruins focus on Matthews, I hope he gets the toughest competition all night. That allows Mitch Marner, who was just as amazing (some say more) than Matthews on Wednesday, but his play hasn’t been hyped as much because despite amazing scoring chances, he didn’t put any in the back of the net. With Matthews the hot new item to watch, tonight can be Marner’s chance to slip some past Rask against inferior competition.

The Boston Bruins opened their season against the Columbus Blue Jackets, an doubled up on them to win 6-3, and this is without Patrice Bergeron in the line up, as he’s still out with a lower body injury.  Bad Marchand stepped up his game though, getting five points to lead the Bruins to the win.

One worry is the players may start slow tonight with a 90 minute pre-game ceremony to sit through.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Forward Lines

William Nylander - Auston Matthews - Zach Hyman
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Mitchell Marner
Milan Michalek - Nazem Kadri - Leo Komarov
Matt Martin - Peter Holland - Connor Brown

Defence Pairings

Morgan Rielly - Martin Marincin
Jake Gardiner - Connor Carrick
Matt Hunwick - Nikita Zaitsev

Goaltenders

Frederik Andersen
Jhonas Enroth

BOSTON BRUINS

Forward Lines

Brad Marchand - David Backes - David Pastrnak
Ryan Spooner - David Krejci - Danton Heinen
Matt Beleskey - Austin Czarnik - Jimmy Hayes
Dominic Moore - Riley Nash - Noel Acciari

Defence Pairings

Zdeno Chara - Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug - Rob O'Gara
John-Michael Liles - Colin Miller

Goaltenders

Tuuka Rask
Anton Khudobin

Tonight’s the first time the home crowd will have the opportunity to see Matthews, Nylander, Marner, Zaitsev, Hyman, Andersen, Enroth, Brown, and Martin play in the ACC.

Hopefully they can all treat the Bruins D like minor leaguers like they did Erik Karlsson.

Double up on the drinks and snacks, it’s going to be a long night.

Go Leafs Go!