Sean Bergenheim, Brett Clark and Teddy Purcell all scored one goal each in the span of one minute and 25 seconds to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-0 lead over the Boston Bruins midway through the first period, but Tyler Seguin scored his first career playoff goal in his first career playoff game at 15:59 to cut the deficit to 3-1, where it would stay for the remainder of the period of Game 1 at TD Garden.
Bergenheim's goal came at 11:15 and was followed by Clark's tally at 11:34. Purcell capped off the goal-scoring barrage with his score at 12:40.
Tim Thomas struggled through the first period in net for Boston, giving up three goals on 10 shots while turning away seven shots. Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson was solid in the first period, re-routing 11 of 12 shots in net.
Boston barely outshot Tampa Bay in the first period, recording 12 shots to the Lightning's 10. Neither team comitted a penalty in the first period and the Lightning won 12 of 20 faceoffs. Both teams had 10 hits and eight blocked shot.