Bruins upend Stars to win opener

In Boston, Brad Marchand struck for two goals the Bruins won their season and home opener, 3-1, over the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves in the win.

“[Swayman] was good,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He had a little less work than Holtby, I thought, and he responded really well. Good for him. He’s done it for us almost every time he’s played. So it’s almost like we’re coming to expect that, and that’s a good thing.”

Marchand’s first goal of the game came off a penalty shot.  It was just the third time in NHL history a team’s first goal of the season was scored on such a play.

“It’s nice when [penalty shots] work out,” Marchand said. “The only thing that I was really thinking about was not missing it.”

Luke Glendening‘s goal in the middle frame tied the game at 1-1 in the second period.

“We haven’t found our team game yet,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. “We will. I’m very confident. It’s a good team in there, a couple of guys haven’t found their game yet. … [Boston is] a good team over there. We made them look better than they are.”

Jake DeBrusk restored the Bruins’ one-goal lead at 4:43 of the third period.

“Tonight [DeBrusk] should [feel good about his game],” Cassidy said. “He did a good job of simply playing behind [Dallas’ defense], winning the foot race, creating that second effort play to create a turnover, and then the puck ends up on his stick in the slot.”

Marchand picked up his second goal on an empty-net with 83 seconds left on the clock.

“As a whole we just need to work harder, to a man, myself included and everybody in that locker room,” Glendening said. “We’ll continue to get better, but every point is important.”

Braden Holtby made 37 saves in the loss.

“We knew they were going to come hard, and they just kept coming,” Dallas’ Ryan Suter said. “We didn’t have an answer. It was hard for us to make plays coming out of our end. By the time we got the puck out to the neutral zone, guys were tired and trying to get off (the ice). It’s a tough way to play.”