Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers: Hung the Banner, but Lost the Opener

At the TD BankNorth Garden, the Boston Bruins were opening their 88th season against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The party was over, you say? Hold on there!

There's this thing called a Championship banner?

The Bruins squad skated on the ice with Captain Zdeno Chara holding Lord Stanley's mug. The players got to hoist the cup high for the fans in attendance on home ice.

Each player had a mini banner on their upper right chest.

Everybody gathered around the cup in front of the championship banner.

Andy Brickley MC'd the event and called on owner Jeremy Jacobs to speak.

"I've waited 36 years for this...you've waited longer," Jacobs told the sold out Garden, "Let's get this damned thing up there." The crowd roared with approval.

Chara was called up and thanked the fans for being there and that the cup was for them and to enjoy it.

Andrew Ference had one surprise. There was an old retro Bruins jacket that was handed around to the Bruin who was the star of the game and wore it in the dressing room and during post-game pressers.

Mark Recchi was suited up for the event and he was presented the jacket as the star of the year.

The members of the 1972 cup champions were on hand, including Milt Schmidt who was involved in all of the five previous championships as a player, a coach and manager. They helped some of the current Bruins members carry the banner and handed it off to the owners and management. The banner was then hoisted to the rafters in its permanent home.

The crowd cheered proudly.

OK! NOW the party is over!

The last time the Flyers met the Bruins was on the very same ice and they had to shake hands with the Bruins to congratulate them on a job well done in sweeping the series. That was then, this is now.

First Period

Near the halfway mark of the opening period, the Bruins were on the power play on a Zac Rinaldo holding call. Tyler Seguin made a stretch pass to Brad Marchand who was nearly left alone. Marchand scored on the backhand, beating Ilya Brzygalov on the right side. 1-0 Bruins.

The Flyers go on the power play on Nathan Horton's slash. With just 50 seconds left of the frame, Claude Giroux scored charging the net, giving Jaromir Jagr his 1600th NHL point. Chris Pronger also got the assist. All knotted up.

With 2.4 seconds left, Flyer Jakub Voracek put one five-hole on Tim Thomas, giving Philadelphia the lead. 2-1 Flyers.

Shots on goal for the Flyers 13-6.

Second Period

No much to do with nothing on this period. The score did not change.

There was a lot of sloppy play on both sides, but I gave the period to the Flyers overall. They had again outshot the Bruins 12-6 for a total of 25-12 so far.

Third Period

Horton had the top of the net, but Kimmo Timonen prevented the tying goal. The puck was rebounded to Horton, but he was skating away from the net as it got to him so he could not put anything on it.

Milan Lucic blasted a shot to the point and it hit Bryzgalov, the puck dropped to his left and was there for the taking, but the Flyers' puck support saved the day again.

With some untimely penalties, the B's could not capitalize and they lose the first game of the season.

Bryzgalov was amazing, but the puck support and give-no-space defense and forecheck was a huge part in the Flyers' win.

The Good

The Bruins really tore it up at the beginning of the game and applied a lot of pressure.

Bryzgalov played very well and, along with the puck support of the Flyers, was the difference in this game.

The Bad

Where do I begin? The play was very sloppy for the most part.

Thomas was also solid, but the Bruins could not contain the pressure late in the opening period.

Poor discipline allowed the Flyers to basically cruise through the final minutes.

The Ugly

Lots of ugly, but it is the beginning of the season with the rosters in final form. Both teams were not the picture of perfection. Far from it. The Flyers got it done.

81 Games to go.

This is Cory Ducey saying "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean."