The Boston Bruins kicked off their 2013 season with a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers on Jan. 19.
After a tribute to everyone on the Bruins' support staff and all the coaches, after the whole team got special introductions and lined up at the blue line, after Rene Rancourt finally got to sing at TD Garden again, it was back to work as normal for the team.
New father Milan Lucic scored the first Bruins goal of the season a little over 14 minutes into the first period, picking up assists from David Krejci and Andrew Ference.
In the second period, Daniel Paille scored a goal that was a bit flukey as the puck slid just over the blue line before Lundqvist could catch it, but it still counted, unlike a chance Krejci took in the third period that was so close it went to review.
However, Johnny Boychuk, celebrating his 29th birthday, scored soon after Krejci's attempt was ruled a no goal.
Tensions flared at times between the two Original Six teams, including two fights in quick succession during the second period. Shawn Thornton took down Mike Rupp and Gregory Campbell fought Stu Bickel. Later in the game, Lucic found his night ending early after a little extracurricular activity and some mouthing off at the New York bench.
Brad Richards scored the lone goal for the Rangers.
Dougie Hamilton got his first shot during an early first-period power play awarded when Carl Hagelin took an interference penalty. (Interference may be called more frequently for a while because of changes to the criteria for the call.) In total, he played a little more than 12 minutes, including more time on the man advantage.
Getting scoring from all over the lineup portends well for the Bruins as this shortened season begins. Their next test will come on Monday at 1 p.m. against the Winnipeg Jets, who lost 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators in their home opener.
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