Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

And he was all shocked that I would prioritize him, I think. I hopped in the car and drove down to Long Island to meet him. At the time, he was the No. 6 defenseman on the Islanders, a throw-it-off-the-glass-and-out type, growing into his body still. So I drive down and we were supposed to have lunch. We ended up having lunch and dinner. I stayed all day and we talked all day.

During a disappointing Saturday night 5-3 loss against their divisional rivals, the Boston Bruins, a silver lining of hope emerged in the form of Leafs' backup goaltender, Dennis Hildeby. On Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, Hildeby started the game as the Leafs' backup, but after Boston exploded for two quick second-period goals to take a 4-2 lead, this 24-year-old at 4:41 of the second period was pressed into action and made a statement by stopping 19 of 20 shots in an eventual 5-3 Bruins win.

"It was fun. Those two guys are great players. It's pretty easy to play with them. It's easy to mix and match the lines on this team so I feel like anybody can play with anybody," said Kastelic after Monday's practice Warrior Ice Arena. "Early on, we just kind of clicked. We were all on the same page. We had a great game in my opinion. We controlled the play. I think we were in their zone more than they were in ours so that's a win for us. Hopefully we just continue to do that."

The Bruins may not be a great hockey team. We still don't know if they're even very good at all. But they can be an entertaining, if unconventional, watch right now. The B's, outshot 40-23 and held in the game by Joonas Korpisalo, coughed up a two-goal third period lead but pulled it out in overtime, beating the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Marat Khusnutdinov's OT goal, his first tally of the season.

For the first time in his Bruins career, Joonas Korpisalo received the starting nod in back-to-back games earlier this week against the Islanders and Sabres. Marco Sturm's decision to alter Boston's goalie rotation came after a road bout on Monday where Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins were shredded by Ottawa, 7-2. While Boston's head coach downplayed discourse over Korpisalo's increased reps, the timing was worth noting after Swayman labored on the road in a lopsided loss.

Our top guys were not the top guys again.

I mean, I am not happy. Guys are going to run me. I am going to try to stand up for myself. I heard the ref say we got a power play, and there really isn't much I can do to him on the ground. Kudos to the guys who were there and got down with him, but like I said, we have to start going to the cage a little harder and make it harder for their goalies.

We are about to discover a lot more about just who these Bruins are. The B's will begin a short but, likely, telling three-game road Thursday night in Las Vegas against a Golden Knights team that many see as poised to break the Edmonton Oilers' two-year run to the Stanley Cup Final. And if the Golden Knights can't do it, the B's opponent Saturday night, the Colorado Avalanche, have a good shot at it.

Ultimately, if the Bruins are middling and aren't staring at a potential playoff run, Boston likely wouldn't have to worry about burning Hagens' first year of team control. An 18/19-year-old player can avoid burning the first year of his entry-level deal by playing 10 or fewer games in his first pro season - allowing that contract to slide forward a year. So, if the Bruins are closing out the year without a playoff berth and Hagens is ready to go pro in late March/early April, Boston could give him 8-10 games to dip his toe in the water without worrying about his contract.

The B's had some brutal puck management issues to start the game that would contribute to a 2-0 deficit. Jake Guentzel created two turnovers that led to both goals. On the first one, the high-scoring winger picked Charlie McAvoy's pocket at the Boston blue line and the Bolts went on a quick counter-attack that resulted in an Anthony Cirelli tap-in off a Gage Goncalves pass just 1:09 into the game, Cirelli's first of two in the period.

The Bruins played their most dominant period of the season in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Sabres 17-2 - it felt like it was even more lopsided - but they managed just a 1-0 lead. The goal came on their 14th shot of the period at 15:48 and for the second time in as many games, it was the second line that gave the B's the first lead of the game.

One thing we've learned - or had confirmed - through two games of this Bruins season is that winning will rarely come easily for this team. It doesn't matter if they're playing a legitimate Eastern Conference contender on the road like the Washington Capitals or a young, up-and-coming-but-not-there-yet club like the Chicago Blackhawks. But what will make their life in the National Hockey League a little easier is if they get kind the kind of contributions throughout the lineup like they did in Thursday's home opener.