Pluses, minuses for Bruins-Flyers, Blues-Golden Knights

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his pluses and minuses for key games each week throughout the season.

The Boston Bruins (1-0-0) and Philadelphia Flyers (1-0-1) are each coming off impressive wins and will meet at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN1, NHL LIVE).
Then, the St. Louis Blues (2-0-0) look to stay perfect when they visit the Vegas Golden Knights (1-1-0) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (10 p.m. ET; TNT, TVAS, NHL LIVE).
Here's my breakdown of the games.

Bruins

Pluses: They've only played one game this season, but I liked what I saw. Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves in a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday and Linus Ullmark, signed in the offseason, should make this a more than formidable goalie tandem.
Brad Marchand was up to his usual self, scoring twice, including on a penalty shot. We know he, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak on that first line are the engine that makes this team go. And it was a smart move for them to lock up defenseman Charlie McAvoy to a long-term contract.
Minuses: Let's see how they do without David Krejci this season. The center, who had played for Boston since the 2006-07 season, is playing in the Czech Republic this season. He ranks eighth in points (730) in Bruins history and seventh in games (962) and assists (515). Charlie Coyle got the first crack at replacing him as the second-line center in their first game of the season.

Flyers

Pluses: They're coming off a 6-1 win against the Seattle Kraken on Monday and looked very good. They had six different goal scorers including Derick Brassard, who had a goal and two assists in his Flyers debut. Joining him were newcomers from this offseason, Ryan Ellis (goal), Cam Atkinson (assist) and Keith Yandle (assist). It's nice to see each producing already.
Carter Hart had a down season in 2020-21 after two impressive seasons to start his NHL career. His 3.67 goals-against average and .877 save percentage were not indicative of the way he can play. He made some great saves and looked solid against the Kraken. Hopefully this can springboard him and give him confidence moving forward.
Minuses: They must be better defensively. Last season, the Flyers ranked last in goals against per game (3.52) and next to last on the penalty kill (73.7 percent). It was a big reason why they didn't qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If you can't defend, it doesn't matter how much you score. It will be a big test for them against the Bruins.

Blues

Pluses: St. Louis is going for the sweep of its season-opening three-game road trip. It started with impressive wins against the Colorado Avalanche (5-3 on Saturday) and the Arizona Coyotes (7-4 on Monday). Of the 12 goals, four players have scored two goals each (
Jordan Kyrou
, Justin Faulk, David Perron, Klim Kostin). In addition to Perron, who is probably the best player no one's talking about, a healthy Vladimir Tarasenko should boost the offense.
The Blues did a bit of retooling this offseason, losing forwards Jaden Schwartz, Sammy Blais and Mike Hoffman, and defenseman Vince Dunn, and adding forwards Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad. But many players who helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2019, including goalie Jordan Binnington, remain.
Minuses: I would like to see them play with more structure. They've allowed at least one goal in five of six periods so far. And while they've scored 12 goals, the offense won't bail them out every night. The Blues also could be without Buchnevich, who had a hearing Tuesday for head-butting Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse on Monday.

Golden Knights

Pluses: Robin Lehner finally has his chance to be the No. 1 goalie with Vegas. He allowed three goals on 31 shots in a 4-3 win against the Kraken on Oct. 12 but was pulled after allowing four goals on 31 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 14. Now that he knows it's his net, he should thrive once he gets into a rhythm.
Even though they lost some pieces this offseason (Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Reaves,
Cody Glass
, Nick Holden), they still have more depth than most teams and likely will be competing for the top spot in the Pacific Division again.
Minuses: They'll be without forwards Max Pacioretty (week to week) and Mark Stone (indefinitely) because of injuries. When two-thirds of your top line is out, everyone else must step up. Forward Evgeni Dadonov and Nolan Patrick were each acquired this offseason for depth, and that's something that's needed early on.