Hockey is back, and the Boston Bruins are in the win column.
Boston took step one in their redemption tour in 2019-20, starting its season with a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night at American Airlines Center.
The Black and Gold used a solid opening frame to take a two-goal advantage and they stayed in front the rest of the way.
Newcomer Brett Ritchie and Danton Heinen scored goals for the Bruins. Roope Hintz potted the Stars’ lone goal. Tuukka Rask made 28 saves while Ben Bishop countered with 20 saves.
The Bruins moved to 1-0 with the win while the Stars fell to 0-1.
Here’s how it all went down:
YOU CAN BRETT ON IT
Compared to last season, where they lost their season opener 7-0, the Bruins got off to an ideal start, potting two goals in the opening 20 minutes of the season.
Ritchie, who was a last-minute addition to the lineup when David Krejci was ruled out before warmups, potted the Bruins’ first goal of the season against his former team just 1:09 in the game. Charlie Coyle forced a turnover in the Bruins’ offensive zone with a phenomenal back check, then shuffled the pass to Ritchie who was able to beat Bishop five-hole.
An Alexander Radulov penalty led to the Bruins’ first power-play goal of the campaign, scored by Danton Heinen after some nice cycling on the perimeter and a net-front screen by Coyle.
Boston had a 6-4 shot advantage.
SLOPPY SECOND
The Bruins were anything but crisp in the second period as the stars cut the deficit in half.
A poor line change on the back end allowed Roope Hintz to split the defense and head in for a breakaway, beating Rask with a top-shelf wrist shot to make it 2-1 at 7:55.
Stars defenseman Roman Polak had to be stretched off after a scary headfirst collision into the boards after tangling with Chris Wagner.
Boston went 0-for-2 on the power play and Dallas outshot Boston 9-7 in the middle stanza.
TUUKKA TIME
Dallas barraged the Bruins for large portions of the third period, but the B’s, with a lot of help from Rask, survived the third period to claim their first victory of the season.
Karson Kuhlman had the best offensive chance for the Black and Gold in the period, creating his second breakaway of the evening, but was unable to tuck away an insurance goal.
The Stars pulled the goal Bishop with 1:10 remaining, but we’re unable to tie it up.
The Stars outshot the B’s 16-7 in the period.
UP NEXT
The Bruins continue their road stint, heading to Arizona to take on the Coyotes on Saturday. Puck drop from Gila River Arena is slated for 9 p.m. ET.
