New York had its own camp scare. Adam Sykora left the preseason opener against New Jersey with a lower-body injury after 2:49 of ice time, and defenseman Vincent Iorio was evaluated for a lower-body issue in the same game. Neither is a headliner, but both affect the Rangers' depth. The number has Boston as a modest home favorite, which is about what you'd expect for home ice in an opener before anyone knows how the lineups look.
Boston also opens without Matthew Poitras. The young center didn't dress for the preseason finale against the Capitals because of a lower-body injury and is listed as out. That's a hit to the Bruins' center depth. Combined with the McAvoy question, Boston's lineup has more unknowns than its home-favorite status suggests.
The form card is mostly history. The last games Boston played that counted were last spring's run against Buffalo, where the Bruins took 2 of the first 5 and scored just 1 goal in each of their 3 losses. That team and this one aren't the same, but the lack of scoring is the thing to watch until the Bruins show otherwise. For both clubs, this is the first real look at what the summer and camp produced, in a rivalry where the building doesn't need extra motivation.