Getty Jacob Peterson celebrates his first NHL goal with teammates Roope Hintz and Jani Hakanpaa.
First the first time in nine years, the Boston Bruins start a new goalie to open the season as they face the Dallas Stars (1-0-0) on Saturday.
The game (7 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on NESN for those who live in the Bruins market, and Bally Sports Southwest for those who live in the Stars market. It will also stream live on ESPN+ for everyone out of market in the United States.
Here’s a full rundown of how you can watch a live stream of the Stars vs Bruins in the US, which your options depending on where you live:
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If the Game is in Your Market
DirecTV Stream
Note: This option is for viewers in the Stars and Bruins markets
DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV) has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” NESN and Bally Sports Southwest (both live in local markets) are included in “Choice” and up.
You can sign up right here:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch the Stars vs Bruins live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours).
FuboTV
Note: This option is for viewers in the Bruins market
You can watch a live stream of NESN (live in local markets) and 100-plus other live TV channels (TNT not included) on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch the Stars vs Bruins live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV also comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch most games on-demand within three days of their conclusion, even if you don’t record them.
If the Game is out of Your Market
ESPN+
Viewers in the United States can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised NHL game (over 1,000 games total) on ESPN+, which replaces NHL.tv this season and is a must-have for any NHL fan:
ESPN+, which also includes about 75 exclusive national NHL games, plus dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary in existence and additional original content (both video and written), costs $6.99 for a month or $69.99 for a year (or about seven cents per NHL game if you want to look at it that way).
If you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $13.99 per month. Separately, the three streaming services would cost a total $20.97 per month, so you’re saving about 33 percent:
Get the ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu Bundle
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch the Stars vs Bruins (either team’s broadcast) live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Stars vs Bruins Preview
Bruins rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman will start the team’s first game of the season, ending a nine-year run of Tuukka Rask as the opening night netminder.
Rask’s recovery from hip surgery and free agent status keep the future in doubt for the 14-year veteran. Swayman, still a rookie based on games suited up for overall, looks to build on his debut last season. He had a .945 save percentage and a 1.50 goals against average with a 7-3-0 record.
His first task of the season consists of stopping a Stars team that comes in fresh off a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers. The Stars only had 26 shots in that game, but one of the goals came on a power play. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored the game winner 1:38 into overtime at full strength.
Stars rookie center Jacob Peterson scored his first career goal on his first career shot. He quickly became a reliable player through training camp and the preseason. The Stars had him on the ice during that brief overtime period.
“I think his skill is the first thing, but the thing I noticed right away was his confidence and his mind,” Stars center Tyler Seguin said per DallasStars.com’s Mike Heika. “He’s not your typical rookie.”
Dallas has many of its players, including Seguin, from the Stanley Cup finalist team in the 2019-2020 season. Boston, which made the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018-2019, looks much less like that squad with a plethora of new players.
That includes Erik Haula, Nick Foligno, and Tomas Nosek all making debuts. Boston also has plenty of familiar names back in Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak — the team’s top three scorers from last season.
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy comes into the opener with a little extra excitement. He signed an eight-year contract extension with the team on Friday.
“All I know are championship expectations, which I’m so thankful for,” McAvoy told the media per BostonBruins.com’s Eric Russo. “That’s where you want to be, that’s the dream is to win and to have the chance every year, to look across at everyone in the room and say we feel like we can do it.”
Dallas likewise has championship aspirations with Seguin and right wing Alexander Radulov back healthy in the lineup. The Stars missed the Stanley Cup playoffs last season amid key injuries.
They didn’t make it out of the Rangers game unscathed though. The Stars lost Braden Holtby and John Klingenberg — both listed as day-to-day by CBS Sports.