Even with a full roster, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery decided that it was right into the fire for the newest B’s, winger Garnet Hathaway and defenseman Dmitry Orlov, Saturday night in Vancouver.

Acquired by the Bruins on Thursday evening and meeting with the team in Vancouver late Friday night, both Hathaway and Orlov made their B’s debuts in the Black and Gold’s 3-1 win over the Canucks, and did so without a single practice (or even optional skate) to their name since joining the Bruins.

So, with such little information about the players (at least from a behind-the-bench perspective), how did Montgomery & Co. use the two throughout the night, and what did he think about ’em?

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  VANCOUVER, CANADA – FEBRUARY 25: Garnet Hathaway #21 of the Boston Bruins skates with the puck during the second period against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on February 25, 2023 in Vancouver. (Derek Cain/Getty Images)

• A bottom-six banger of the highest order, Montgomery kept it simple with Hathaway and slotted the 31-year-old to the right of left winger Nick Foligno and freshly-activated center Tomas Nosek on Boston’s fourth line.

  Deployed for 7:40 of five-on-five action, the Foligno-Nosek-Hathaway line was out-attempted 8-4, but broke even at on-ice shots with a 4-4 mark. That was despite not having a single shift begin in the attacking zone, which was a staple of Hathaway’s success in DC, as he constantly pushed pace the other way from his own end.

  Not given the benefit of the last change as the road team, the line got a heavy dose of the Canucks’ top line, too, with over four minutes of five-on-five time against the Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Beauvillier line.

  “It was awesome,” Hathaway said of his Bruins debut. “We traveled a lot, I think we learned a couple new parts of the system and just trying to go with the flow a little bit and play, don’t think as much. We’ll have some time to look over video and fine-tool some details. Then just the support from those guys and saying, ‘Hey, keep going, this is what we’re doing.’ Each guy has each other’s back here, and it’s pretty easy to feel comfortable.”

  Individually, the 6-foot-3 Hathaway finished his Bruins debut without a point, but was credited with two hits and one giveaway, in 11:40 of time on ice.

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  Feb 25, 2023; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Bruins forwards Nick Foligno (17) and Garnet Hathaway (21) vie for the puck against Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) during the second period. (Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports)

• The Bruins also incorporated Hathaway into their penalty-killing rotation, with 1:18 of shorthanded time on ice for a Boston penalty kill that went a perfect 3-for-3 in the win. When out there with the Bruins down a man, Hathaway played the role of center (though he didn’t take a draw), and with Jake DeBrusk on his wing.

  “Really impressed with Hathaway’s details and penalty killing,” Montgomery said after the win. “It seems like he understands our D-zone coverage already.”

  Given what the Bruins have seen from their third line with Charlie Coyle between Taylor Hall and Trent Frederic, it seems like ‘RW4’ will be Hathaway’s spot for the majority of the stretch run. But given his space-creating elements and familiarity with the defensive zone, I would be curious if and when the Bruins would give a look at Hathaway up with Coyle and Hall. Or if the Bruins want to get a look at what I can only describe as a pure violence line with Hathaway to the right of Frederic and A.J. Greer.

  And with Hathaway in, Greer took a seat as Boston’s healthy scratch up front.

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  VANCOUVER, CANADA – FEBRUARY 25: Dmitry Orlov #81 and Tomas Nosek #92 of the Boston Bruins defend against Andrei Kuzmenko #96 of the Vancouver Canucks during the first period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on February 25, 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Derek Cain/Getty Images)

• Orlov, meanwhile, made his debut playing his off side to the right of Derek Forbort on Boston’s third pairing.

  Together for just over 13 minutes of five-on-five play, the Bruins were out-attempted 19-8 and outshot 12-3 with the Forbort-Orlov pairing on the ice. With numbers like that, the Canucks naturally held the scoring chance advantage, too, with the Bruins out-chanced 9-2 (4-1 in high-danger chances) with Forbort-Orlov out there.

  The pairing was also on the ice for the lone goal against in the win, as an Orlov backhand dish towards behind the net was intercepted by Conor Garland and then took a weird bounce off the apron of the goal and ended back out in front of the Boston net. Orlov faced some oncoming and heavy physical pressure from J.T. Miller on the dish that went awry, but the goal really seemed to be a byproduct of Forbort not getting to the net-front in time to deny the Canucks an easy goal on the Bruins’ Linus Ullmark.

  Perhaps the numbers aren’t exactly shocking considering the defensive-zone heavy deployment for the pairing, and this is just the start of figuring out exactly where Orlov fits into the Boston mix.

• Birthday boy brings us within one 🎉 pic.twitter.com/US6Olh0oxe

  — Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 26, 2023

• And like Hathaway, Orlov also played a significant role for a perfect B’s shorthanded unit, and finished with 2:48 of shorthanded time on ice (second to only Brandon Carlo) in the win. Carlo was his most consistent pairing partner with the Bruins down a man, too, with two minutes of shorthanded time on ice together, and with the Bruins surrendering just three shots on goal with Orlov-Carlo out there at four-on-five play.

  The Bruins also gave Orlov a slight five-on-five run with Hampus Lindholm, making it three different partners over the course of a 20:04 night for the 5-foot-11 defender, who finished with two hits and a blocked shot and left a strong first impression on his coach.

  “Orlov made some special plays, special passes on breakouts, neutral zone, and offensive zone,” Montgomery said after the win. “Real smart hockey player. Smart hockey players know what they’re going to do with the puck before it’s on their stick, and he’s one of them.”

  And Orlov was honest about the adjustments that came with his jump into life with the Bruins.

  “I played for only one team for 11 years, so it’s different for me,” Orlov said after the win. “It wasn’t easy, but it was fun. It was good to get the win. It wasn’t a clean game, but still we found a way.”

  And as noted, Orlov’s debut came with a move to Orlov’s off side, as the left-shooting Russian moved to the right side to play with Forbort. It’s something he’s done before during his 11-year run in Washington, and something the Bruins value, but it’ll be interesting to see what’s next for him given Montgomery’s feelings on the matter.

  “I think you always prefer guys to be on their strong sides,” Montgomery admitted. “It just makes everything easier. You’re always looking up ice and that’s where you want to puck to go.”

  The Bruins also have admitted that they’re going to go with a rotation on the backend, so it’s entirely possible that Orlov sticks in the lineup but at the expense of a left-shooting defenseman next time around, as Connor Clifton was the odd man out Saturday night in Vancouver.

  Either way, Orlov, who noted that the whirlwind that’s sent him across the continent and to a different organization in a little more than 48 hours, is excited to get some rest and get right back at it.

  “I just try to make simple plays in my first game and not try to do too much and make quick decisions,” Orlov said. “I [made] a mistake on the first goal, but next time I’ll be better.”

  One extra note when it comes to Orlov and his Bruins debut: Photos from the warmup seemed to indicate that Orlov tried beginning this game with a pair of Chris Wagner’s gloves. But photos from the game appeared to show that Orlov was wearing his Washington gloves, but with ’em spray-painted black to fit the B’s color scheme. (A quick shoutout to Twitter’s Gear Geek for noticing that.)

• Dmitry Orlov’s first game with the Bruins…
  
  It looks like he tried a pair of Chris Wagner’s 1X Lite gloves for warm ups. But then he spray painted some of his old Caps gloves for the game.#NHLBruins | https://t.co/2cHguerPds pic.twitter.com/uPgGJn1Nbd

  — GearGeek.com🏒🤓 (@geargeekhockey) February 26, 2023

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