Given that there wasn’t any absolute guarantee he even started for the Boston Bruins, the fact we’re now seeing Brett Ritchie as a stand-out player in the 2-1 opening night win is great.
Ritchie playing wasn’t a guarantee even if David Krejci, who missed the game through injury, was fighting fit. He would’ve still been in a contest with Par Lindholm for the final spot in the starting line-up and that was due to an injury to Joakim Nordstrom.
What did happen though is that Brett Ritchie did get to play on opening night against his former team and he started his Boston Bruins career in the absolute best way possible, notching a goal on his first shift.