It was one thing when A.J. Greer scored twice in his first preseason game at TD Garden a couple weeks ago. That was certainly a great introduction, and one that helped endear him to Bruins fans.
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Saturday night’s regular-season home opener was something else, though. Greer scored twice again, putting the finishing touches on the Bruins’ 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes. In one night, the 25-year-old winger matched his career goal total from his first 48 NHL games.
It’s not just the goals that have Greer on the fast track to becoming a Bruins fan favorite, though. It’s how he plays, how he feeds off the crowd, and how the crowd feeds off him. As he did in that first preseason game, Greer led the Bruins in hits on Saturday with six.
He teamed up with Trent Frederic to lead the Bruins’ response to Liam O’Brien, who knocked Brandon Carlo out of the game with a hard hit in the first period. During an end-of-game scrum involving all three of those players and more, Greer pulled a Brad Marchand-esque pest move of trying to drag a Coyote off the ice with him.
Greer also had an assist in addition to the two goals, forcing a Coyotes turnover on the breakout that helped lead to Charlie Coyle’s goal. Greer finished the game plus-4, and the third line of him, Coyle and Frederic had 69.2% of shot attempts and 83.3% of expected goals when they were on the ice.
Oh, and there was the kiss. Every now and then, you see a goal celebration that you can tell really means something. Greer’s celebration of his first goal as a Bruin was one of them, as he grabbed the Spoked B on the front of his sweater and gave it a smooch.
Given the up-and-down career Greer has had since being drafted by Colorado in the second round in 2015, he has repeatedly expressed gratitude for the opportunity he now has in Boston and called it a “blessing.” The kiss was a manifestation of that appreciation.
“Even in the preseason, I was telling my fiancée and my parents how energetic this building is and how fun it is to play here,” Greer said. “I think playing for the Bruins is very special because it's an Original Six team and it's such a special organization. I'm so grateful for myself to be in this position.
“I just kind of was overwhelmed when I scored that goal and I just wanted to show my love for the Bruins and for the fans. Because without them, the energy is not there. It was such a great building tonight. It was an awesome evening, even just getting my name introduced at the beginning, it was awesome.”
Bruins fans are showing their love for Greer in return -- in the Garden, but also in the replies to any of the various social media posts the team made about Greer on Saturday night. He’s already won them over, and if he continues to play like this, that bond is only going to deepen.