Bruins spared Opening Night painful nightmare by the NHL

On Monday morning, the NHL released the schedule for Opening Night on Oct. 7, and to nobody's surprise, the Boston Bruins are not one of the six teams playing that night. Last season, they began the season in South Florida and were the opponent when the Florida Panthers raised their Stanley Cup banner to the rafters. Pain.

As luck would have it, the Panthers steamrolled through the postseason for a second straight year to capture back-to-back championships, to the angst of the rest of the NHL. This season's run was a mixed bag of results for Black and Gold fans, but at least they won't have to watch their team be the Panthers' opponent on the first night again, and they should thank their lucky stars.

Boston Bruins avoid playing Florida Panthers for a second straight year on Opening Night

This year would have been painful for the Bruins to sit through Florida's banner being raised. At the trade deadline, Boston general manager traded captain and franchise icon Brad Marchand to Florida, but the success that the Panthers had allowed the Black and Gold to receive a first-round draft pick in 2027.

This year, the NHL announced that the Chicago Blackhawks will be Florida's opponent on Oct. 7, and that's not a surprise, getting Connor Bedard on TV right away against the defending champs. The second game is Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins playing at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers and former coach Mike Sullivan. Is anyone surprised by that matchup? The final game is the Colorado Avalanche visiting the Los Angeles Kings.

This season would have been much more painful watching the Panthers raise their banner with Marchand signing long-term in South Florida and winning his second Cup. The NHL did the Bruins a favor by not having them as the opponent that night in what would have been a painful evening. The entire NHL schedule is set ot be released on Wednesday afternoon.