It wasn't a pretty first period, but it was enough to get the Bruins on the board and take an early lead very early into the game.
Just 1:20 into the first period, Patrice Bergeron found the back of the net after taking a pass from Benoit Pouliot. Pouliot battled through to keep the puck in possession and passed it back to Bergeron at the point, and before the ice had a few scratches on it, the Bruins took a 1-0 lead.
But it wasn't all easy for the Bruins, and goaltender Tuukka Rask was put to the test early. Almost midway through the period, the Panthers were outshooting the Bruins 8-1. One such shot came when Shawn Matthias came down the ice and broke through the defense to earn himself a breakaway on Rask. However, the Finnish goaltender seemed very calm in net and stoned him, keeping the score 1-0.
With 2:51 left in the period Bruins forward Daniel Paille took offense to a slash at his skates from Panthers defenseman Ed Jovanovski, so he dropped his gloves with him. Neither team had the upper hand in the fight, but both will be out at the start of the second period.