Bruins raise banner, lose season opener

Boston Bruins pose with the Stanley Cup and championship banner prior to facing the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night in an NHL hockey game in Boston, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Tonight was a special night that Bruins fans will not forget as another Stanley Cup championship banner was raised before the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Before the game the Bruins players passed around the Stanley Cup to each other holding it up to the fans, something we couldn't see in Boston but watch on television from Vancouver so I thought that was cool. Later in the ceremony, Andrew Ference presented Mark Recchi the old Bruins jacket from last season. They would then bring out former Bruins to help the current Bruins raise the Stanley Cup banner.

The game would eventually start and the Bruins started strong. Brad Marchand would score the first goal of the season and give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Tyler Seguin made a beautiful long pass and Marchand broke in and slipped one past goalie Bryzgalov. It was a power-play goal. The Flyers came back strong though and dominated late in the period and scored two quick goals before the end of the first period.

That would be all of the scoring in the game as the game would end 2-1.

Game notes
The Flyers led the game in shots 29-23. The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 32-16 and hits 19-17.

The Bruins first line of Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton didn't look too good but it's only the first game. Marchand and Seguin both looked great and were the Bruins best players tonight.

Patrice Bergeron had a strong game in the faceoff circle going 10-2.

Tim Thomas made 27 saves on 29 shots.

Adam McQuaid and Benoit Pouliot were scratched for the game. Matt Bartkowski and Jordan Caron were in the lineup.

Onto the next one
The Bruins next game is on Saturday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7pm ET.

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 06: The Boston Bruins raise their 2011-11 Stanley Cup Championship Banner before the start of the home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 6, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)