Flyers 2, Bruins 1
Offseason acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 22 shots and the Philadelphia Flyers scored twice in a 47-second span late in the first period to secure a 2-1 road triumph over the defending Stanley Cup-champion Boston Bruins on Thursday in the season opener for both clubs.
Veteran Jaromir Jagr collected his 1,600th career point while playing in his first NHL game in three years, Claude Giroux netted a power-play goal and Jakub Voracek also scored with three seconds left in the first period for Philadelphia, which was unceremoniously swept by Boston in last season's Eastern Conference semifinals.
Signed to a nine-year, $51 million deal in the offseason, Bryzgalov preserved the slim advantage with a brilliant glove save on Brad Marchand midway into the second period.
After Marchand opened the scoring midway through the first period, Giroux leveled the contest with 50 seconds remaining in the session. He accepted Jagr's feed before fending off Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and tucking the puck past Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas.
Voracek quickly gave Philadelphia the advantage after cleaning up a rebound in the slot and wristing the puck past Thomas, who finished with 27 saves.
Prior to the contest, Chara skated onto the ice with the Stanley Cup to send TD Garden into a frenzy. Members of the 1972 Stanley Cup-winning team - including Bobby Orr and John Bucyk, among others - helped the present-day club with raising the championship banner to the rafters.