Bruins’ home opener has plenty of local flavor

Rookie winger Ryan Donato of Scituate will play the first home opener of his career when the Bruins host the Senators on Monday at TD Garden. Hanover’s Colin White and Paul Carey of Weymouth play for the opposing Sens.

BOSTON -- The checklist is almost complete.

In a little less than seven months, Ryan Donato has played his first NHL game, his first NHL playoff game, his first NHL preseason game -- not usually a big deal, except this game happened to be played in China -- and his first NHL regular-season opener.

Monday, the Scituate native plays the last of the firsts, and one of the best: He’s playing in the Bruins’ 2018-19 home opener against the Senators at TD Garden (1:05 p.m., NESN, WBZ-FM/98.5).

“I think it’s every kid’s dream around here to play in the home opener,” said Donato, who has moved up from the third line to the second in the first two games of this season, and plays on the Bruins’ top power play unit.

“It’s one of the best games to go to when you’re a kid: ‘I want to go to the home opener.’ Everybody has it marked on their calendars.”

Donato, 22, had access to his share of home openers at the Garden: His father, Ted, played for the B’s from 1992-98 and again in 2003-04, and Donato was never far from Causeway Street as he developed into an NHL prospect: He played at The Dexter School in Brookline before he was coached by his dad for the last three seasons at Harvard University.

“I’ve been to home openers before,” he said. “It’s always a treat. It’s a great thing for fans -- everybody’s getting excited for the season. The players are all riled up, too.”

That could also be the case in the visitors dressing room: Hanover native Colin White, 21, is a certainty in the Senators’ lineup, and Paul Carey of Weymouth may play, too.

White, the Senators’ first-round draft pick in 2015 (No. 21 overall) is off to a strong start to his second pro season -- he had a goal and an assist as the Sens took a point out of Thursday night’s season opener (4-3 overtime loss to the Blackhawks), then played right wing on one of their top two lines in Saturday’s 5-3 win at Toronto.

Carey, 28, is with his fifth NHL organization since the Avalanche drafted him in 2007 -- a list that includes the Bruins, who acquired him from the Avs in a March 2, 2015, trade and sent him to AHL Providence for the remainder of the year. Coming off his best NHL season (60 games, 7-7--14 as a Ranger), Carey signed a one-year deal with the Senators and made his debut on Saturday, after being recalled from AHL Belleville a day earlier.

Widely considered a favorite to finish near the bottom of the NHL standings after a tumultuous offseason that saw captain and two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson and four-time 20-goal scorer Mike Hoffman traded, the Sens are 1-0-1, playing a faster game with a younger lineup.

“There’s a lot of pride in hockey players, regardless of where you’re picked,” said veteran B's center David Backes, who is expected to shift to center between fleet young wingers Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork on Monday. “If we’re looking past the Ottawa Senators on that first shift, we’re mistaken.”

“Hopefully we have lots of energy,” B’s coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I’m sure Ottawa will. All the talk about them, and they went into Toronto and won a game, played well against the Blackhawks.”

The Bruins, whose 7-0 loss to the Caps last Wednesday was the worst Opening Night beating in franchise history, haven’t played since the next night’s 4-0 bounce-back win at Buffalo. Though they’ve had a day off (Friday) and two much-needed practice days since, the layoff worries Cassidy a bit.

“I hope our guys are focused and ready to go,” the coach said. “They should be, but sometimes when you’re off a long time -- a whole weekend -- there is a little bit of consternation there.

“We haven’t played since Thursday. Early in the season, that’s a long time -- 3½ days. But at least we’re building off the win, not the loss.”

And there’s the expected Home Opener advantage, too.

“Nothing beats it,” said second-year winger Jake DeBrusk, who scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game when the B’s opened the 2017-18 campaign with a 4-3 win over the visiting Predators. “I can’t wait to get out there in the Garden, and hear the crowd.”