Bruins-Lightning LIVE Blog: Bruins Open Season With 3-1 Win Over Lightning
BOSTON (CBS) - Follow all the updates from the Bruins' season opener against the Tampa Bay Lighting at the TD Garden!
Final -- Bruins 3, Lightning 1: It's only Game 1 of 82, but the Boston Bruins walk away winners on opening night with a solid 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Boston scored two of their three goals shorthanded, with Chris Kelly putting in a penalty shot in the first period and Patrice Bergeron adding some insurance in the third. Milan Lucic netted the game-winner in the second period, getting a nice feed from David Krejci to beat Anders Linback on a 2-on-1.
Kelly's goal is the first time a team has started a season with a short-handed, penalty shot goal.
The big story of the night is Boston's penalty kill, which was their best offense. The Bruins killed off all five of Tampa's power plays, including the two 5-on-3's.
Tuukka Rask was solid in net, stopping 32 of the 33 shots he saw. The Lightning out-shot the Bruins 33-24 in the contest, but Rask made sure that didn't matter in the end.
Rask, Chara and Kelly were named the three stars for the game.
The Bruins get Friday off before hosting the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
3rd Period, 3:54: Tuukka hasn't been tested much tonight, but he just after a turnover in front of the Boston net.
Ryan Malone got a nice feed from Martin St. Louis and tried to walk it past Rask, but Tuukka was there to turn him away. He's up to 29 saves on the evening.
3rd Period, 8:51: Jordan Caron doesn't have any points on the stat sheet yet, but he's putting together a very strong Game 1 for the Bruins.
The third line had a nice 3-on-2 forming but Caron couldn't convert in front of the net. But that's a spot he's posted up in all night, and has a pair of shots in his very active 9:15 on ice so far.
After a so-so season from the third line last year, it's good to see it making some noise tonight, even without Carl Soderberg.
3rd Period, 15:58 -- Bruins 3, Lightning 1: Maybe the Bruins should play this season shorthanded?
Patrice Bergeron gives Boston their second shorty of the night, faking out Linback on a nice 2-on-1 and putting it home for his first of the year. After playing the puck to himself off the boards in the neutral zone, Bergeron raced out and had Torey Krug on his side, but dragged his toe beautifully to fake out the defenseman and then fired a wrister in to put the Bruins on top 3-1.
Tampa is now 0-for-5 on the power play tonight, with Boston scoring two of their three goals shorthanded.
3rd Period, 16:36: Dennis Seidenberg got his money earlier, but that won't stop him from competing. And you'd be silly to even think that.
Seidenberg had a nice block on a Martin St. Louis shot on the 5-on-3, and shortly after that Ryan Malone was called for interference of his own.
Now we'll see if the Bruins can add another shorty.
3rd Period, 18:06 -- The Bruins began the third period on the attack, but couldn't get anything out of it. Now they have to kill off another 2-man advantage by Tampa.
Torey Krug sent a puck to the front of the net, and there was plenty of traffic in front of Lindback, but Campbell and Kelly couldn't get get a stick on it and put it home.
The Bruins now find themselves trying to kill another 5-on-3, with Shawn Thornton (slashing) and Zdeno Chara (a very weak interference) both in the penalty box.
End of 2nd Period -- Bruins 2, Lightning 1: The Bruins offense has looked much better over the last few minutes, and their aggressiveness paid off as Milan Lucic beat Lindback with a nice wrister to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
Lucic received a nice feed from David Krejci on a 2-on-1 and put it in from the left circle for his first of the season.
More hustle from the third line nearly gave Boston a 3-1 in the closing seconds of the period, but Lindback was able to stop Caron's short wrister from Chis Kelly.
The B's looked more alive over the last five minutes of the period, but still have just 15 shots in the game.
2nd Period, 9:28 -- Bruins 1, Lightning 1: Tampa finally beat Tuukka, with Valtteri Filppula tying things up mid-way through the second period.
The Bruins' D got caught up in the offensive zone and Daniel Paille whiffed badly going after Eric Brewer, who delivered a nice cross-ice pass by a diving Gregory Campbell to Filppula.
Rask has been fairly busy tonight, stopping 17 of the 18 shots that Tampa has sent towards him.
That Caron no-goal looks even bigger now. Still waiting on an explanation on that one...
2nd Period -- 10:54: Jarome Iginla may have just won over those select fans that booed him during introductions.
Iginla took a hard hit from Radko Gudas, didn't appreciate it all that much and decided to throw down the gloves.
Iginla got a few nice shots in, but will now have to watch from the box for five minutes.
It is just the 53rd fighting major of Iginla's long career, and first since taking on Nathan Horton last season.
2nd Period -- 17:58: The Bruins should be up 2-0 right now, but for some reason the refs decided to blow off a Jordan Caron goal.
Caron went strong to the net and send a rebound past Lindback, but it was waived off immediately for an unknown reason.
Caron is playing very well tonight, with strong play to the puck and a few good looks. It's a very good sign for the 22-year-old forward that has been fighting to make the roster the last few years.
2nd Period -- 20:00: The Bruins officially announced Dennis Seidenberg's contract extension during the period break.
Seidenberg will bring a $4 million cap hit following this season, a pretty good deal considering how important he is to Boston's blue-line.
Back to hockey on the ice though, as the Bruins look to add to their 1-0 lead in the second period.
End of 1st Period: The Bruins have killed off all but four seconds of the 5-on-3 and take a 1-0 lead into the locker room after the first period of the season.
There was a mess in front of Tuukka Rask with 16 seconds left, but the netminder was able to pounce on the puck follow a rebound to get the faceoff. He then made a save on a Steven Stamkos blast with two seconds left, and a one-timer from Teddy Percell as time expired.
Tuukka has been calm and cool in net tonight, stopping all 15 shots that have come his way.
It's clear that the offense is still a work in progress with Iginla and Eriksson joined Boston's top two lines. Tampa has outshot Boston 15-6 so far in this one, and the only time the offense has looked great is on the penalty kill.
1st Period -- 1:49: The Bruins now have to kill a 5-on-3 following a delay-of-game penalty on Gregory Campbell.
1st Period, 1:56 -- Bruins 1, Lightning 0: The Bruins will end the period on the PK thanks to an Adam McQuaid cross check.
Shawn Thornton got his feet wet in the fighting department, tussling against Tampa's Piere Labrie. Thornton got a few shots in, but a tumble ended the bout after about a minute.
1st Period, 7:11 -- Bruins 1, Lightning 0: The Bruins were active on the PK, and it paid off.
After a breakaway from Loui Eriksson and another nice bid by Patrice Bergeron, Chris Kelly was awarded a penalty shot thanks to some hustle towards the net.
Kelly looked like he was in a video game on the shot, going with a beautiful triple move on Tampa netmider Anders Lindback and beating him with a backhand to put Boston up 1-0.
It was Kelly's first career penalty shot, and the first penalty shot goal by a Bruins since Brad Marchand did it on March 5, 2013 against the Capitals.
Congrats to all two of you who had Chris Kelly in the Bruins' first goal pool.
1st Period -- 9:48: The Bruins will now have to kill their first penalty of the season, with Reilly Smith getting two minutes for hooking.
Jordan Caron had a nice shift for the Boston third line, laying down some solid hits and tossing a puck towards the net.
Iginla and Hamilton have both of Boston's shots, as we remain scoreless mid-way through the first period.
1st Period -- 15:20: Well, so much for that "new-look" Power Play from Boston. They managed just one shot on their first man-advantage of the season.
It was Krejci, Iginla, and Lucic up front with Chara and Krug on the first PP line.
Boston had a decent look as time expired on the power play, but Dougie Hamilton's pass to Iginla was a little off and he wasn't able to get a shot off.
But is anyone really that surprised Boston starts the season 0-for-1 on the Power Play?
1st Period -- 17:28 The 90th season of Boston Bruins hockey is underway!
We'll get an early look at the Boston Power Play, with Matthew Carle getting an early two minutes for interference on Daniel Paille.
Pregame -- 7:05 p.m.: The introductions have begun, which means hockey is that much closer.
Gregory Campbell was the first one out of the shoot and received a huge ovation. Jarome Iginla followed, and despite a few boos scattered in, received a nice welcome from the Boston fans. The biggest ovation of the intros went to Patrice Bergeron, and rightfully so.
Captain Zdeno Chara was the last one introduced and got a great ovation. He gave each of his teammates a stick-tap as he took his place in line for the National Anthem.
Speaking of the Anthem, Rene Rancourt went with a two fist pumps. It's going to be a good season indeed.
Pregame -- 6:56 p.m.: And here are the Bruins' lines tonight as we approach the puck drop.
Lucic-Krejci-Iginla
Marchand-Bergeron-Eriksson
Caron-Kelly-Smith
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Pregame -- 6:46 p.m.: As expected, it looks like Matt Bartkowski is the odd-man out tonight.
Here are the defensive pairings based on the pregame warmups: Chara-Boychuk, Seidenberg-Hamilton, Krug-McQuaid
Bartkowski will watch from the ninth floor tonight, but that will likely change from game-to-game. Claude Julien wants to keep pushing his young blue-liners, and this will keep Bartkowski, Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug competitive throughout the season.
It's also great to note that Dennis Seidenberg will take the ice with a new contract tonight. The Bruins and Seidenberg have reportedly agreed to a four-year contract extension, meaning the German defenseman will be in Boston through the 2017-18 season.
Seidenberg has been a beast for Boston since arriving in 2010, and you can't say enough for what he brings to the blue-line. It's just a shame we'll probably have to wait for the playoffs to see his paired with Zdeno Chara, forming that dominant "Chardenberg" line.
Pregame -- 5:57 p.m.: Hockey season is back in Boston!
The 2013-14 season gets underway tonight as the Bruins host the Tampa Bay Lighting at the TD Garden. It's been just 13 weeks since the Bruins last took the ice in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, but the sting of that loss behind them and they're ready to begin a new quest for the Cup.
The expectations are high once again for this Boston team, but that's the way they like it.
"It's a good thing," veteran forward Shawn Thornton said at this morning's skate. "I've been here for seven years and it wasn't that way for the first couple. High expectations are a good thing. You try not to put to much pressure on yourselves but you definitely try to live up to the expectations. That's what you play for and we enjoy that part of it."
READ: Four Bold Predictions For The 2013-14 Bruins
There was concern that new assistant captain David Krejci may miss tonight's tilt with back spasms, but Krejci was present again at Thursday's morning skate and appears like he is good to go.
While the core remains mostly intact for Boston, there is a pair of Bruins' debuts to keep an eye on tonight. Newcomers Jarome Iginla and Loui Eriksson make their Boston debuts and are looking to make a good first impression in front of the home fans. Both will be key to Boston's success this season, with Iginla tabbed to take over for Nathan Horton on the B's top line and Eriksson replacing Tyler Seguin alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. The top two lines have had great chemistry over the past four years, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the newcomers to fit in.
Iginla Ready For Debut:
Reilly Smith is also set to make his Boston debut, playing on the third line next to Chris Kelly and Jordan Caron in place of the injured Carl Soderberg. Smith came over in the Seguin trade, and has 40 NHL games under his belt -- including the season opener for the Stars last year.
LISTEN: Cam Neely On Felger & Mazz
We'll keep an eye out for the lineups, and who will be tonight's healthy scratch. All signs point to blue-liner Matt Bartkowski being the odd-man out, as Dougie Hamilton saw time with Dennis Seidenberg and Torey Krug with Adam McQuaid this morning.
Stick with CBSBostonsports.com for all the updates throughout the night, and tune in to the came on 98.5 The Sports Hub and streaming online! The Sports Hub's coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. with face-off shortly after 7 p.m.!
