Bruins strike quick, hold on to win opener

DALLAS — Any concerns of a Stanley Cup hangover were erased quickly into the Bruins 2019-20 campaign.

Free agent signing Brett Ritchie put the Bruins ahead 1-0 moments into their first contest in Dallas on Thursday night, and a quick strike on the power play from Danton Heinen shortly later on had the Bruins in command early.

Dallas (0-1-0) challenged from there, despite injuries leaving them shorthanded, but the Bruins (1-0-0) survived the onslaught to pull out a 2-1 opening night win.

Without David Krejci, who was a game-time decision after skating in the morning with the team, the Bruins shuffled their lines and Ritchie was inserted into the lineup. His shot was the first shot of the season — and Heinen’s the second — but the Bruins didn’t score again for their last 18 shots.

The Stars ended up down three players, with defender Roman Polak getting stretchered off in the second period, while Blake Comeau departed with a lower-body injury, and Jason Dickinson with an upper-body injury.

Dallas picked up some late life while they were down players, though. It was early on, however, where the Bruins had them in a hole.

Ritchie, in his first NHL game not with the Stars sent a soft wrister past Ben Bishop on his first shot as a Bruin, putting the Bruins ahead 1-0 against his former club just 69 seconds into the season.

Par Lindholm drew a holding call later on in the period, leading the Bruins to their first power play where Heinen sent another short-side wrist shot past Bishop for a 2-0 lead just 5:59 through the game.

With just over 12 minutes left in the second, Polak crashed into the boards head-and-shoulder-first as Chris Wagner spun away from a check. Polak was down on the ice for some time and needed to be stretchered off.

Roope Hintz tallied the Stars first goal of the season a few moments after play resumed, breaking free of the Bruins defense to get around Charlie McAvoy on a bad Bruins line change and rifling a shot top-corner past Rask to make it a 2-1 game.

After the Bruins earned the first four power plays of the game, Dallas picked up a chance halfway through a Bruins man advantage late in the second, and then grabbed a power play just 45 seconds into the third. The Bruins struggled to clear the zone, but ultimately got that penalty kill to stay ahead.

Dallas landed just 13 shots in the first two periods combined before 16 total in the third. Tuukka Rask stopped them all to preserve the Bruins lead.

The Bruins continue their opening four-game road trip out west against the Coyotes in Glendale on Saturday.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2IngIX3