Despite a last minute effort by the Bruins to tie up the game with under 2 minutes to play in the game, it was the Flyers that took him the victory in Game One of the new season, 2-1 over the Stanley Cup Champions.
The opening ceremonies however did not disappoint as the banner was raised and the cup lifted in front of the faithful Boston fans on home ice. It was an emotional thirty minutes before the game and one that really helped the team put some closure on last season and enter into the new one set before them.
"Yeah, I mean we knew coming into tonight that we were going to get emotional," Bruins forward Tyler Seguin said. "I actually kind of thought it was more emotional than I would have thought but it’s just about finding that switch to get into game mode and turn the page. But I think we started off well and it didn’t end with us with a win but it’s nice to get tonight out of the way."
The end of the first period proved to be the foundation the Flyers needed to build the victory that alluded them back in the playoffs against the Bruins last year. With two goals late in the period though, the Bruins couldn't fight their way back this time.
However, for the first half of the first period, the Bruins showed little sign of rust, and in fact, were looking well put together considering the short off season.
The B's didn't take long and scored nine minutes into the game at the hands of Brad Marchand, but it was the Flyers response in the last minute of that period that gave Philadelphia a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission and eventual win.
Philadelphia's first goal started with Claude Giroux being taken down in front of Thomas. Though he slid in between the pipes, he managed to still slide the puck in the net with 50 seconds left to go. Just 47 seconds later, Jakub Voracek netted the eventual game winning goal, leaving the Bruins a bit dumbfounded heading into the locker room after one period of play.
"Well obviously you’re not too happy about it," Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference said. "Those late goals are frustrating, but there wasn’t any nervousness or anything. It’s a one-goal game. I think the thing was obviously we’re getting so few shots in the first period, we’d like to come out and at least get a few more in the second, which we didn’t. So that’s probably the disappointing part."
In fact, neither team capitalized in the second period, or in the third--but they came close.
Bruins forward Brad Marchand had a number of opportunities that just missed the back of the net, including a pick-pocket of Chris Pronger and a wrister to the high glove side. Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov kept his team in it, stopping 22-of-23 shots he faced including that one.
"He's got pretty good speed, and pretty much I was like, 'what can I do?'" Bryzgalov said. "I just waited and hoped he hit me in the pad or with the puck in the glove. And he did it, he put the puck in the glove. It was lucky like I said."
Whether it was his luck of skill that kept the Bruins out of the net for the rest of the game, the Bruins sit on their first loss of the season and look forward to Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning to get the ball rolling.
"[Moving on] is part of the game obviously," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "Like I said, it's something we were part of but now it's behind us and now we're focusing on what's ahead of us."