The memorable “home’’ game will come Jan. 1 at Fenway Park, but there’ll be a buzz in the Boston air from the start as the Bruins open the 2009-10 season against Alexander Ovechkin, the reigning league MVP, and the Capitals on Garden ice Oct. 1. That will be the first of five consecutive home games the Bruins play before venturing to Dallas for their first road game Oct. 16.
They’ll close out the opening homestand against the Avalanche with a 1 o’clock Columbus Day matinee, the first of 11 afternoon games, including the Jan. 1 Winter Classic at Fenway against the Flyers, they’ll play in Boston.
Causeway Street will be without hockey for nearly a month when the NHL goes into cold storage for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. The Bruins will play at home Feb. 6 vs. the Canucks and then won’t play at the Garden again until the Canadiens visit March 2. Their last game before everyone heads off to Olympus will be Feb. 13 at Florida.
The Stanley Cup champion Penguins will be in Boston twice, Nov. 10 and March 18.
The Hurricanes, who dumped the Bruins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, will follow the Capitals into the Garden Oct. 3 and then won’t return until April 10.
Habs haters, circle the dates Nov. 5, Feb. 4, and March 2. That’s when the pint-sized CH franchise, led by the diminutive likes of Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta, will be in town, backed by the towering likes of ex-Bruin Hal Gill.
The toughest stretch for the Bruins will come in March, immediately following the Olympic break, when they play 16 games in 28 days, including seven straight on the road March 6-16.
