Bruins kick off with win

Despite poor start, 2 points are secured

Zdeno Chara is at the center of the celebration after his shot was tipped home by Marc Savard in the second period. (David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

DENVER - The shot came off the stick of future Hall of Famer Joe Sakic.

Tim Thomas stopped Sakic's wrister, but the netminder wasn't happy with where he placed a meaty rebound - in the heart of the slot for an onrushing Jordan Leopold to blast home at 10:17 of the third period, wiping out a 4-3 Boston lead.

Thomas, who kept his Bruins teammates in the game when they were flubbing everything in sight earlier, would have a chance at rubbing out his mistake.

It came in the final minute during a six-on-four disadvantage (Patrice Bergeron was in the box for tripping), after David Krejci had potted the go-ahead goal at 17:24. The Bruins had cleared the puck for seemingly the last time, but defenseman John-Michael Liles retrieved it and sent it up ice for Darcy Tucker. The winger cruised into the offensive zone and spotted a teammate open in the slot.

Sakic again.

Thomas, however, closed down the five-hole and snuffed out Sakic's wrister. Center Paul Stastny was on the doorstep for the rebound, aiming to tie the game. But Thomas flashed out his left pad, stoned Stastny, and froze the puck.

Redemption.

"I know from watching him over the years that he can go anywhere from five-hole to off the crossbar and in at that angle," said Thomas. "I was trying to be ready for everything. When he went five-hole, that makes it harder to control the rebound because you have to be so careful with every spot in the net with him. There was a rebound, and I was fortunate to get my leg out there, stretch out, and be able to cover it up."

Thanks to the pads, glove, and stick of Thomas (35 saves, including 18 in the first period), the Bruins kicked off the 2008-09 season with a 5-4 victory before 18,007 at the Pepsi Center. The Bruins looked jumpy in the first period, too worried about making mistakes instead of making plays.

But despite their ragged play, the Bruins were tied at 3 heading into the third period, when Michael Ryder scored his first goal as a Bruin. The play started when P.J. Axelsson drew the Colorado forecheckers toward him in the neutral zone and winged in a cross-corner dump that Marc Savard chased down, hustling past Liles to retrieve the puck. Ryder fell right in line behind Savard, ready for the center's dish. Ryder didn't miss, roofing a shot over Peter Budaj (15 saves) at 5:36.

Leopold erased Boston's lead, but Milan Lucic, toward the end of his shift, helped set up the winning goal. Lucic had the puck along the left wall with Krejci steaming down the middle. Lucic thought about cutting into the center of the ice and feeding the puck to Krejci to set up an odd-man rush.

But the Colorado defense closed down Lucic's lane, forcing the fourth-line left wing to stay wide.

It turned out to be a good thing.

Lucic went around the wall and fed the puck out front to Chuck Kobasew, who tried to one-time the puck on net. The puck heeled off his stick, but it skittered to the blade of Krejci, who tucked a shot past Budaj at 17:24.

"We found a way to win," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "We scored some goals. There were certain areas of our game that weren't as clean. But there were obviously some other areas that were good. We still managed to score five goals."

One of those strikes came off the stick of rookie Blake Wheeler, playing in his first NHL game. In the first period, with the score 1-1, Kobasew started the play by hurtling into the offensive zone, drawing the defense, and flipping a cross-ice, backhand pass to Krejci. Wheeler saw some space in the slot, parked himself there, and waited for Krejci's feed, then cranked a one-timer past Budaj at 10:51, 49 seconds after sniper Milan Hejduk had scored Colorado's first goal. Dennis Wideman retrieved the puck drilled home by Wheeler and handed it to equipment manager Mark Dumas.

"Mom and Dad couldn't wait," said Wheeler, whose parents were in attendance, despite living close to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the site of tomorrow's game against the Wild. "They had to fly out to see the first one."

While Wheeler made his debut, it was also a first of sorts for Bergeron. The center appeared in his first regular-season game since suffering a Grade 3 concussion Oct. 27, 2007. Bergeron skated 23 shifts for 16:08 of ice time, setting up Phil Kessel for a goal in the first period and recording another helper on Savard's power-play goal in the second. Bergeron recorded a team-high five shots, landed one hit, and won 12 of 20 faceoffs.

Before the game, Julien announced that Bergeron would be the permanent alternate captain. Axelsson, Marco Sturm, and Andrew Ference will rotate the other "A" every 10 games. Last night, Axelsson served as the second alternate.

"Can only get better from here," said Bergeron.

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.