Jeremy Swayman sits as the Bruins open the season in Florida

Swayman has endured plenty of barbs and, well, let's call it “chop”-busting, as his fellow Bruins players continue after the goaltender missed all of training camp. Brad Marchand said the bribery began Sunday afternoon on the flight to South Florida.

“Yes definitely. I mean, it's going to go on for a while. He even got lit in training (Tuesday) and got a little heat, so that's part of it,” the captain said.

Apparently Swayman is also pretty adept at deflecting verbal comments.

“At the end of the day, he’s a great kid and easy to joke around with,” Marchand said. “He loves to have fun and joke around, so that will continue for a long time, but at the end of the day I think he's the last laugh in it, so it's fun to have him back.”

Although Jim Montgomery As he kept his starting goalkeeper close to his vest this week, there were signs that Korpisalo would get the nod.

First of all, Korpisalo, preserved in the Linus Ullmark-to Ottawa deal, was the first goalie to leave the ice after a spirited morning skate at the FTL War Memorial. Second, Swayman stayed late after the training session to work with injured players Matt Poitras And Ian Mitchellas well as Parker Wotherspoonwho was a healthy scratch.

Revenge wasn't on Marchand's mind when he faced this Sam Bennettthe Panther who knocked out the Bruins captain in last season's playoff series with a blow to the jaw in Game 3.

Marchand suffered a concussion and missed Games 4 and 5. Bennett went unpunished by the league, in part because final videos of the hit were not discovered until days later.

“Listen, this is part of the playoffs,” said Marchand, who returned for Game 6 when Florida eliminated Boston for the second straight year. “Again, I’ve said it many times. If you can eliminate players in the playoffs, it will only give your team an advantage. This is what happens. The teams play very physically. They are a very physical team and that is part of their DNA. You don't play this game expecting to never get hurt. I've been on both sides of the action and that's part of the game too. He definitely got away with one. You can see the replay and everything. But it is what it is and I hold no animosity. I’m going to play just as hard as I always have.”

Staying on the theme of physicality, the Bruins are hoping to improve their production this year, and a lot of that will depend on whether some of their bigger forwards can showcase their strength and endurance.

Morgan Geekie, Trent Frederick, Riley Tufte, Justin BrazeauAnd Max Jones could be the key to success against teams that like to play rough.

“If they reach their threshold, that means we can physically and territorially overwhelm people. And those are two things we want to get much better at,” Montgomery said. “Last year I thought we were a physical team, but we are designed to be more physical. We're designed to wear people down to the top and stay in the offensive zone. That’s why we optimized our work as a team to achieve this goal.”

The Panthers raised their Stanley Cup banner and delayed puck drop until 7:33 p.m. “Of course the goal every year is to see that banner raised the following season. So I think you can use it as motivation,” Marchand said. “It's a symbol of what every team in the league wants to achieve, but at the end of the day for us it's more about the foundation we're building within the group, the training and the way we're going to achieve it . “Prepare from the next day.” . . . Korpisalo ended a streak of 169 Bruins games started by either Swayman or Ullmark. . . Mitchell, who left his office Monday after being hit in the mouth by a missed puck, underwent emergency dental treatment. He wore a full shield on his morning run. . . Sign of the Night: “Go back to Dorchestah.” . . Song of the evening: “All My Life” by Foo Fighters.

Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.