Zdeno Chara was adorned with gifts and praise before the beginning of tonight's game in honor of his 1,000th NHL game which played on Saturday, as the fans showered him with applause and everything a fan can give.
And he gave it right back to them. Although his was in the form of a dangle.
Though the Bruins were down 1-0 just five minutes into the game, after allowing Steven Stamkos into the zone in a 2-on-1, which he scored on, Chara came back five minutes later, taking the puck into the Lightning's zone and drove to the net. Though his shot didn't make it, Shawn Thornton was there to recover it and knock it into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
But Chara was given most of the credit for it.
Thornton almost delivered again later in the period, when he had a semi-breakaway but couldn't get it through Dwayne Roloson.
The Bruins continued to have a couple more chances in the period, including two bouts on the power play. They were unable to convert, but kept the Bolts to five shots the entire period. Meanwhile, the took 11 of their own.
One of their biggest chances was with 4:39 left in the period. On the second power play with just five minutes to go, Brad Marchand found Tyler Seguin out in front of the net, but Seguin couldn't lift it over the pads of Roloson for the goal.
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