David Krejci collected two goals and two assists and Brad Marchand also tallied twice as the Boston Bruins skated to a 7-3 road triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Nathan Horton scored and set up a goal, veteran Mark Recchi netted his 58th career postseason tally and Gregory Campbell also scored for third-seeded Boston. With the victory, the Bruins exacted a bit of revenge against the Flyers, who erased a 3-0 series deficit in last year's conference semifinals to win the next four games.
Patrice Bergeron notched three assists and Vezina Trophy finalist Tim Thomas finished with 31 saves for the Northeast Division champions, who will look to secure a 2-0 lead in the series when the teams reconvene in the City of Brotherly Love on Monday.
After Horton tipped the puck past Brian Boucher to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead with 36 seconds left in the first period, Recchi doubled the advantage in the early going of the second. The 43-year-old British Columbia native settled his own rebound and neatly wristed a shot past Boucher just 2:33 into the session.
Krejci and Marchand scored 1:48 apart late in the session to send the veteran netminder to the showers.
Daniel Briere netted his NHL-leading seventh goal of the playoffs, captain Mike Richards scored a power-play goal and James van Riemsdyk also tallied for second-seeded Philadelphia.
Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped eight shots after replacing Boucher, who finished with 18 saves.
Boston | Philadelphia | |
David Krejci 4 | Points | Claude Giroux 2 |
David Krejci 2 | Goals | Daniel Briere 1 |
Patrice Bergeron 3 | Assists | Claude Giroux 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Mike Richards 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Tim Thomas .912 | Save Percentage | Sergei Bobrovsky .800 |
Tim Thomas 31 | Saves | Brian Boucher 18 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Boston | 33 | 7 | 0-5 | 4-5 | 24 | 33 |
Philadelphia | 34 | 3 | 1-5 | 5-5 | 24 | 35 |