The Bruins defeated the Flyers 5-4 in OT on Saturday afternoon. Making his return to the lineup after nearly 2 months following a Grade-2 concussion at the elbow of Matt Cooke, Marc Savard sniped the game-winner passed Brian Boucher.

For video of the goal, click on the picture.

It was a back-and-forth game with stellar goaltending from both sides at key moments to keep their respective teams in the game. Brian Boucher went into God-mode in the opening moments of OT when the Bruins swarmed the net and peppered Boucher with shot after shot. One could have almost foresaw Savard scoring the game-winner. It was poetic justice really. Out for two months, limited ice-time during regulation-time and then BAM! sends the Garden into jubilation with a Game One win.

Lost in all of Savard’s heroics was the fact that Marco Sturm tore his ACL and MCL in his right knee attempting to make a check during his opening shift. He will be gone for the rest of the playoffs. A healthy-scratch in Game 1, Shawn Thornton should return to the lineup. Thornton will add some more grit to the lineup, a key when playing the extremely physical Flyers.

Game 1 was a precursor for things to come; expect a long, hard-fought series out of these two long-time rivals.

Puck drops again at the Garden Monday night at 7pm.

The Boston Bruins and Milan Lucic have agreed to a 3-year extension worth $12.25 million.

The 21-year-old Lucic set career highs in all major statistical categories last season, scoring 17 goals and adding 25 assists for 42 points.

Milan Lucic

An aggressive checker and an outstanding fighter, he also tallied 136 penalty minutes and finished with a +17 rating. Last Saturday, Lucic bloodied Carolina’s Jay Harrison in a second-period bout. In the preseason, Lucic opened up Ottawa tough guy Chris Neil.

During the 2008-09 postseason, the 6-foot-3-inch, 228-pound winger had three goals and six assists and a team best +12 plus/minus rating in 10 games.

In his rookie year in 2007-08, Lucic registered 8-19=27 totals and 89 penalty minutes in 77 contests. Lucic earned the team’s “Seventh Player Award” for his efforts, an award voted on by the fans and given to the Bruin who performs above and beyond expectations. He also
contributed two goals in seven postseason games.

Lucic has skated in both games during the 2009-10 season and has one assist and five penalty minutes.

He was originally drafted by the Bruins in the second round (50th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Source: Boston.com

In other Bruins’ news, the Bruins are 1-1 on the season. They lost 4-1 to Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in the season-opener. The Bruins bounced back in a big way with a 7-2 pummeling of the Carolina Hurricanes, the team that knocked out the Bruins in last year’s playoffs. The Bruins scored three times each in the first and second periods and added another tally in the third period. The B’s got goals from Marc Savard, Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler, Marco Sturm, Dennis Wideman, Shawn Thornton, and Matt Hunwick. Tim Thomas was solid between the pipes in the win, making 25 saves on 27 shots. He had almost no shot on the two goals allowed to Scott Walker and Eric Staal. Walker, crossing the slot, re-directed a shot from Aaron Ward for the goal. Returning in the third period after being knocked out by a one-time shot that struck him in the side of the head earlier in the game, Eric Staal cashed in on a power-play, beating Tim Thomas underneath the arm-pit with a wrist shot.

The Bruins also won the physical aspect of the game. Milan Lucic man-handled and bloodied up Jay Harrison in a fight and Shawn Thornton also won a bout against former Bruin Andrew Alberts. Thornton went after Alberts in retaliation for Alberts going up high with a hit on Marco Sturm earlier in the period.

The Bruins get back to action on Thursday as they play host to the Anaheim Ducks. The puck is set to drop at 7pm.