Bruins at Capitals preview

BRUINS (0-0-0) at CAPITALS (0-0-0)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS

The Game

The Washington Capitals will raise their first Stanley Cup banner when they open the regular season against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.
The Capitals won the Cup by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. They will have 20 of the 22 players who played in the clinching game in the lineup against the Bruins. It also will be Todd Reirden's first game as Washington coach. He was promoted from associate coach to replace Barry Trotz on June 29.
Boston will have center Patrice Bergeron in the lineup. He didn't play in any preseason games while recovering from offseason groin surgery and back spasms that started before the beginning of training camp. He returned to practice Monday.

Players to watch

Bruins center David Krejci is four assists shy of 400 in the NHL. He has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 33 games against the Capitals.
Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom is one point from 800 (209 goals, 590 assists) in the NHL. He would become the third Washington player with at least that many, joining Alex Ovechkin (1,122) and Peter Bondra (825).

They said it

"It's a great night. This organization, Washington, has put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this championship. Good for them and congratulate them. … But once the puck drops, hopefully we get some juice from the energy in the building and the fact that it's our first game and we've struggled with Washington." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"Game One. Excited. Excited about the whole night. Going to have to be patient because it's going to take a little while with all the stuff that's going on prior to the game." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden

Bruins projected 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
Scratched:Anders Bjork, Steven Kampfer, Urho Vaakanainen
Injured:Torey Krug (left ankle)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Brett Connolly
Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky -- Lars Eller -- Chandler Stephenson
Nathan Walker -- Nic Dowd -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Dmitrij Jaskin
Injured:Michal Kempny (concussion), Travis Boyd (lower body)
Suspended:Tom Wilson

Status report

The Capitals placed forward Jayson Megna on waivers Wednesday but do not plan to assign him to Hershey of the American Hockey League if he clears. … Wilson was suspended 20 games by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Wednesday for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist in a preseason game Sunday. ... The Bruins will use Grzelcyk on the top power play with Krug injured.

Stat pack

Ovechkin is two goals from passing Dino Ciccarelli (608) for 18th on the NHL all-time list and four goals from passing Bobby Hull (610) for 17th. ... The Capitals have won 12 consecutive games against the Bruins, who are 0-9-3 since their last victory against Washington on March 29, 2014. … The Bruins are 5-1-0 in their past six season openers.