Boston Bruins: 16 Sweetest Moments at TD Garden

The upcoming open practices at TD Garden mark the exciting return of hockey in Boston. In three weeks, the Boston Bruins will open the season by hanging their sixth Stanley Cup championship banner, one night prior to the 16th anniversary of their inaugural regular-season game in what was then called the FleetCenter.

In other words, right around the time of its 16th birthday, the building that has been affectionately called the New Garden will certify itself as a fully grown venue.

It took a while for either of its tenants to make the TD Garden a difficult place for visiting teams to play, but if the arena’s 13th year of existence was a bar mitzvah marked by the Celtics’ first NBA title since 1986, then this year is a Sweet 16 party marked by the Bruins’ first Cup since 1972.

In celebration of that, here is a chronological look back on the 16 best Bruins-related moments to occur at the FleetCenter/TD BankNorth/TD Garden so far.

January 26, 1996: Ray Bourque Scores Go-Ahead Goal in NHL All-Star Game

In the middle of its first year of operation, the FleetCenter hosted the NHL All-Star Game, which delivered a storybook ending to the hosting fan base.

In the dying moments of regulation, ageless Bruins captain Ray Bourque ventured deep beyond his perch at the point and shelved a go-ahead goal over the mitt of goaltender Felix Potvin.

That proved to wrap up a 5-4 win for the Eastern Conference and game MVP accolades for Bourque.

May 2, 1999: Boston Bruins Take 3-2 Series Lead over Carolina Panthers

With the series tied 2-2, Anson Carter scored in overtime to complete a come-from-behind 4-3 victory and nudge the Bruins up to a 3-2 first-round series lead over Carolina.

After five long years, the team was the closest it had been to winning its first playoff series since 1994, the penultimate year of the old Garden.

Without hesitation, they came back home and dropped the curtain in Game 6, bolstered by Byron Dafoe’s second 2-0 shutout of the series. Nothing new on that front, considering the goalie had notched a league-leading 10 shutouts in the regular season.

March 24, 2001: Ray Bourque Returns to Boston

Precisely 382 days after he had picked up the puck and packed his bags, Ray Bourque returned in Colorado Avalanche attire to an adoring sellout crowd in Boston.

Much like a year earlier, the Bruins were all but a lost cause in the final phases of the regular season. Accordingly, it was easier for the Causeway congregants not to be strained with ambivalence.

Bourque drew applause upon chipping in two assists en route to a 4-2 Colorado victory and took an emotional, post-game lap around the pond to salute those who had supported him for nearly 21 full seasons.

April 13, 2002: Boston Bruins Top the Eastern Conference

Having taken only five of a possible 14 points in their previous seven games, the Bruins were in danger of spilling a once-apparent stranglehold on the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

But upon obliterating the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 7-1 in the season finale, they finally stamped that number one seed, finishing a point ahead of divisional rivals Toronto (101-100).

April 9, 2004: Patrice Bergeron Gives Bruins 2-0 Series Lead over Montreal

A promising rookie center named Patrice Bergeron whipped home a long-distance overtime goal to raise Boston's upper hand in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to 2-0.

Although the series did not end so favorably, it was part of a good career icebreaker for Bergeron.

He was the only holdover from the 2004 team, and seven years later the Montreal Canadiens similarly sculpted a 2-0 series lead on Boston when…please stand by.

April 13, 2008: Marc Savard Scores Sudden Death Goal Against Montreal

A lockout, followed by two abysmal years between Mike Sullivan and Dave Lewis, made a crater bereft of good times out of the past decade. But then, Claude Julien and a multitude of new players delivered the Bruins from the basement ahead of schedule.

Perhaps the first signature moment in the team’s return to relevance occurred four years and four days to the date of Bergeron’s OT goal.

After local fans spent regulation fighting off visiting rooters from Montreal, Marc Savard slugged home a sudden-death goal. The resultant 2-1 win whittled the heavily-favored Habs' series lead to 2-1 and constituted the Bruins’ first playoff home win since Bergeron’s OT goal.

April 19, 2008: Marco Sturm's Late Goal Forces Game 7

Four years after ruining the perfect Patriot’s Day with a Game 7 home loss to the Habs that finished the completed Montreal’s rally from a 3-1 series deficit, the Bruins threatened to turn the tables.

With the top-seeded Habs having failed to close them out in Game 5, the Bruins treated their returning rooters to a 5-4 thrill ride.

Boston trailed by a single goal three times, then spilled a 4-3 lead before it could sink in, only to trap the victory on the strength of Marco Sturm’s strike with 2:36 left in regulation.

The Bruins snuffed out in the ensuing rubber game, but just by forcing that rubber game, they had set a tone to bring the fans back to stay.

November 1, 2008: Boston Bruins Get Rough with Dallas Stars

The previous year brought hints of a Lunch Pail Gang revival with the likes of rookie Milan Lucic and first-year acquisition Shawn Thornton.

But it wasn’t until after this lopsided, rough-and-tumble 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars that New England hockey fans were convinced the Bruins could pack enough punch on the ice sheet as well as the score sheet.

November 29, 2008: Boston Bruins Earn Respect After Beating Detroit Red Wings

Throughout the month, there were signs that Claude Julien's pupils were again progressing ahead of schedule. But it wasn’t until after this 4-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings that most every NHL analyst was convinced the Bruins were for real.

It didn’t hurt to know that the win capped off an 8-0-0 run on home ice in the month of November, which began with the aforementioned romp over Dallas.

April 1, 2009: Boston Bruins Clinch Top Playoff Spot in Eastern Conference

Not even Sean Avery’s bottomless bowl of shenanigans could throw the Bruins off course.

During the final TV timeout, as Tim Thomas and the Bruins were safeguarding a 1-0 lead, Avery tapped the goalie in the back of the lid with his stick, sparking a scuffle visually reminiscent of Jason Varitek versus Alex Rodriguez.

Moments later, the 1-0 difference turned to stone, and with that win over the Rangers the Bruins had clinched the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

April 26, 2010: Boston Bruins Clinch First Round Series over Buffalo Sabres

Injuries and a revolving door be darned, all Bruins buffs could ask for out of the 2009-10 season was a playoff spot and a solid, consistent showing once there.

They got that, at least in the first round against a slightly-favored, Northeast Division-champion Buffalo Sabres team.

After giving up the first goal in each of the first five games, but nonetheless winning each of the middle three, the Bruins never trailed in Game 6. They juggled with torches by allowing the Sabres to continuously bite back, but rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask handled just enough to preserve a 4-3 win and 4-2 series triumph.

March 24, 2011: Boston Bruins Rock Montreal Canadiens with 7-0 Win

The holiday on ice that was the 2008-09 season was a distant memory as the Montreal Canadiens had been giving the Bruins repeated fits. But even after taking only three out of a possible 10 points in their first five meetings, Boston was in a position to strengthen its stranglehold on the Northeast Division entering the season series finale.

A 7-0 romp highlighted by grinder Gregory Campbell’s breakaway during a 5-on-3 penalty kill did just that, as it usually does.

April 27, 2011: Boston Bruins Clinch First Round Series in Overtime

Coach Claude Julien was batting 0-for-3 in Game 7s with the Bruins as they approached the rubber confrontation of the first round against Montreal.

And the Habs worked the count full in the most excruciating manner when PK Subban drew a 3-3 knot on a power-play laser late in the third period.

But less than six minutes into overtime, a playoff neophyte by the name of Nathan Horton inserted his second walk-off goal in as many home games.

With the slap of his stick, a franchise that had missed the playoffs in back-to-back years twice within the previous 11 seasons and once gone 10 years without winning a single playoff round was suddenly going to the NHL’s elite eight for the third year in a row.

May 6, 2011: Boston Bruins Reach Third Round After Defeating Philadelphia Flyers

Precisely one year to the date of their missed opportunity to sweep the Philadelphia Flyers out of the second round and 51 weeks after deflating the Causeway congregants like never before, the Bruins converted a 2-for-1 mulligan.

Carrying yet another 3-0 upper hand into a Game 4 against the Flyers, they poured about 17,565 refreshing glasses of “Dirty Water” with a 5-1 win. It marked the second time in three years that Claude Julien’s pupils swept an arch-rival one year after losing Game 7 to the same team in the same round. Montreal was the victim of a similar reversal between 2008 and 2009.

More importantly, Boston was in the third round for the first time since 1992.

May 27, 2011: Boston Bruins Reach Stanley Cup Finals

The only soul in the building who had an easy night was the scorekeeper, who between the goal column and penalty column had to jot only one entry in 60 minutes.

Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference finals was just that clean and tense in equal proportions.

But that just made Nathan Horton’s go-ahead goal with 7:33 left in the third period all the more cathartic for the Garden masses. The Bruins subsisted on the ensuing 1-0 lead with a noticeable conviction that was long absent in previous playoff runs, vanquishing the Tampa Bay Lightning and claiming their first Prince of Wales Trophy in 21 years.

June 13, 2011: Boston Bruins Force Game 7 Against Vancouver Canucks

For the third time in as many elimination games, Nathan Horton played an integral part in a Bruins victory.

Although sidelined by a concussion endured one week prior in Game 3, he managed to grab two rally rags and stand in the Zamboni entrance for an inspirational cameo on Garden HDX.

On this night, the Stanley Cup made its first business trip to the new Garden, standing by to see if its services would be needed by the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Before the first period of Game 6 was half-over, the Bruins all but assured the trophy and their own fans that were would be no locker room after-party. For the third time in as many home dates in the series, they dismantled Canucks starter Roberto Luongo by scoring four goals on nine shots in a span of 4:06.

From there, they spent the next 50 minutes pacing themselves to a 5-2 victory and forcing an historic rubber game on the West coast.