Recap: Bruins score early, clamp down late to win the opener, 2-1

Brett Ritchie gets things started for the Bruins, scoring his first Bruins goal on his first shot, just over a minute into the game. 1-0 Bruins.

Danton Heinen keeps the good times rolling with a wicked shot to beat Ben Bishop later in the first period. 2-0 Bruins.

A scary moment midway through the second, as Roman Polak goes hard into the boards and ends up getting taken off on a stretcher.

Shortly after the Polak injury, Roope Hintz uses his speed to take advantage of a bad line change to cut the lead to 2-1 Bruins.

That would be it for the scoring! The Stars applied pressure through the third, but the Bruins and Tuukka Rask stood tall. Rask made 16 saves in the third period alone and 28 on the night.

Bruins WIN! 2-1 final.

Game notes

• This game had an odd feel to it. The Bruins scored two quick ones early, but then kind of faded offensively. The Stars certainly turned up the hit midway through the game, but it never really felt like the Bruins were on the run. They scored their two early, then kind of just dug in and held down the fort. Hey, it worked!
• Plenty of Bruins had good nights tonight. Danton Heinen looked great, and was arguably the Bruins’ best forward. Karson Kuhlman had a handful of eye-opening plays, coming close to scoring a goal in the first period. Brett Ritchie made a good first impression as well.
• One group that didn’t have a great night? The first line. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak had a flash or two, but otherwise looked kind of...off. Obviously it’s one game and it’s early in the year, so there’s no real reason for concern. The trio probably just needs some time to get back in sync.
• After the two goals, the Stars did a good job limiting the Bruins’ ability to actually get shots on net. Dallas was excellent at getting sticks, skates, or legs in the shooting lanes. The Stars had 3 different defensemen with 3 blocked shots. No, blocking shots isn’t a great indicator of possession or dominating a game, but it shows an ability to get in the way when needed.
• Rask was great tonight. The lone goal he allowed was understandable, and while he wasn’t really under a barrage of shots at all, he was stout when called upon.
• After the game, NESN reported that Roman Polak had movement in all of his extremities at the hospital, which is great news.

Back at it Saturday night in Glendale!