After missing nearly two months of action thanks to Matt Cooke's cheap shot (that went unpunished by the NHL), Bruins center Marc Savard returned this afternoon and wrote a fairytale chapter to what has been a terrible ordeal for him.
He scored the game-winner in overtime as the B's beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 at TD Garden in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Going into the series, the one thing that seems to distinguish the two teams is that Tuukka Rask is the hottest goalie left in the NHL playoffs and Flyers goalie Brian Boucher is a journeyman scrub (despite his fine play against the Devils).
Boston choked away a pair of two-goal leads (3-1, 4-2) but that was soon forgotten as their best offensive player ended it with a turnaround shot at 13:52 from Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara.
As expected, it was a very physical game with both teams not afraid to throwing their bodies all over the ice.
Steve Begin scored his first career playoff goal 2:39 into the game from Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi. Any offense from the fourth line is a big plus and to see a bum like Begin score is similar to a solar eclipse.
Bergeron doubled the lead at 12:54 of the first period with an assist from Wideman.
Ryan Parent opened the scoring for Philly at 7:38 in the second period from Mike Richards and Arron Asham.
Miroslav Satan cashed in on a power-play just over four minutes later. Johnny Boychuk and Wideman.
At 15:48 Chris Pronger got the Flyers closer (3-2) with a power play goal from Kimmo Timonen and Richards.
David Krejci made it 4-2 in the third period with assists from Satan and Milan Lucic. It looked to be over at that point but the stubborn Flyers kept the pressure on and it paid off as Richards and Daniel Briere tied it up.
Boucher (41 saves) and Rask (32 saves) made some outstanding saves in overtime, with Boucher making a bunch of A+ stops in the early going of OT. Boston outshot Philadelphia 15-4 in overtime.
The B's will try to hold serve at home in Game 2 on Monday night.
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