Beecher savors his return home

BUFFALO, N.Y. — It was a suite night for the Beecher family.

The Elmira, N.Y.-based clan, which has routinely made the 2½-hour trek via Interstate 86 to cheer on the Sabres at the many iterations of the KeyBank Center, had new seats and a new team to root for Tuesday night.

“My family got lucky, they were able to get a [luxury] box, so they’re going to be up there,” reported Bruins rookie center Johnny Beecher following the club’s morning skate.

There was overflow, however.

“Rumor is I’ve got somewhere in the hundreds of people coming, so it should be good,” said Beecher. “A lot of people from my hometown are excited for me, so obviously can’t thank them enough for the support and hopefully we can get the win for them.”

It wasn’t all that long ago Beecher, who played 10:50 in the 5-2 victory, could never have pictured himself cheering for any other team.

“We were pretty big Sabres fans, obviously growing up in the upstate area, so it’s pretty special to be back here and be playing,” said Beecher. “Me and my brother [Bryce], we were obsessed with Jason Pominville, Maxim Afinogenov, Ryan Miller . . . they had a pretty good team back in the day to root for, so it was a ton of fun.”

Beecher does remember one night that wasn’t much fun.

“There was one time we came to watch them play the Bruins and [Zdeno] Chara ended up scoring with a slapper from the point and we were probably 10, 12 sections up from the blue line where they were celebrating,” said Beecher. “There was a picture online and you could see me and my parents sitting there, and I had a Sabres hoodie on, and we weren’t looking too happy at the time, but it’s funny how it’s kind of come full circle and happy to be on this side of it.”

Beecher has anchored Boston’s fourth line, blending with several different wingers because of injury, and has become a key cog in in the penalty kill operation.

One of the big strengths of his game is winning faceoffs. He’s at 54.3 percent on the season after winning 11 of 15 Tuesday, a marked improvement after a couple of down games.

“I’ve been watching a lot of video on that, just trying to hone it back, because it’s something you can kind of lose for a little bit. But yeah, I mean, looking to kind of bounce back,” said Beecher. “It’s a huge part of the game. If you have the puck, then you’re in pretty good shape.”

He credits daily sessions with assistant coach Chris Kelly and fellow rookie center

Matt Poitras for helping to keep him sharp.

“[Kells] has worked a lot with us. Just little details on the dot, usually every morning skate me and Potsy do a little competition before we get off [the ice] and just kind of fine tune everything for the game,” said Beecher.

Clifton’s gold comes with blue

After 232 regular-season games wearing black and gold, Connor Clifton played his first against the Bruins. The big-hitting defenseman signed a three-year, $10 million deal with Buffalo in July and acknowledged he’s still adjusting to his new team and surroundings.

“I think I’m still living that, but it’s been really good,” said Clifton, who had three shots on goal and was a minus-3 in 16:21. “The guys have been great; the coaches have been great. All around, the whole experience has been awesome.”

Sabres coach Don Granato was pleasantly surprised to hear Clifton hasn’t become completely comfortable in his new environs.

“I think lots of guys feel that same way and that’s good. That means at some point they’re going to get more comfortable, and things will be a lot smoother for us and so I like to hear that, and I think he’s been good so far,” he said. “I know there’s a lot more there for him and everybody else.”

Jim Montgomery, who said he loved coaching Clifton, said his favorite memories of him are “probably the baby face grins he has after he makes a big hit or a great play.”

Clifton caught up with former teammates Brad Marchand, Jeremy Swayman, Derek Forbort, Jake DeBrusk, Brandon Carlo, and Trent Frederic at a Monday night dinner.

Northern exposure

The Bruins will face the Kings in a preseason game at the Vidéotron Centre in Quebec City on Oct. 3. The Kings are holding the final part of their training camp at the facility and will also play the Panthers there Oct. 5 . . . Prior to puck drop, the Sabres honored their captain, Kyle Okposo, who played in his 1,000th NHL game. “I’m excited to be part of Okie’s 1,000th game,” said Granato. “He’s an unbelievable person, unbelievable hockey player and teammate and a great leader.”