• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Boyes, Murray lift Bruins to victory in home opener

Oct 20, 2006 - 1:47 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- All the Boston Bruins needed was a little home cooking.

Brad Boyes scored on the first shift of the game and Glen Murray tallied twice as the Bruins shined in their home opener, a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.

The last team to skate in front of its home fans this season, the Bruins were coming off a 1-3-1 road trip to open the campaign and had scored just four goals in their last three games.

"It was a really solid effort by our team, especially since we were coming off a disastrous road trip in my mind," Bruins coach Dave Lewis said. "We really couldn't have scripted a better start."

Indeed, Boyes got Boston off to a stellar start Thursday, beating goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff on a 2-on-1 just 18 seconds into the contest.

Immediately after the opening faceoff, Marc Savard emerged down the left side and sent a pass across to Boyes, who put a shot right under the crossbar for his second tally of the campaign.

"There was lots of energy on the bench and that energy grew after that first goal," Lewis said. "It wasn't just from the five guys on the ice, but from everybody."

Murray made it 2-0 midway through the opening session and added a power-play tally in the final minute of the second period to give Boston a 3-1 edge.

"Obviously, if we get off to a good start in our home opener and get the first goal, it brings a lot of confidence to our whole team," Murray said. "We had that tonight. I think we played smart. We didn't play terrible in those (first five games). We just didn't play smart. We made the right decisions with the puck. It's as simple as that."

Alex Tanguay slipped a backhander under netminder Hannu Toivonen to bring the Flames within a goal with 9:36 to play. But Toivonen held his ground the rest of the way, finishing with 26 saves after allowing four goals in each of his last two contests.

"I think the guys had a tremendous effort," Toivonen said. "A lot of shots were blocked and our penalty kill was great. We really made sure they didn't get any chances on those."

Kiprusoff turned aside 27 shots and Daymond Langkow netted the other tally for Calgary, which concluded its road trip with a disappointing 1-2-1 mark.

"We just can't seem to get over the hump," Flames left wing Jeff Friesen said. "The way we're playing right now is unacceptable. We're a good hockey team. We can't make those mistakes that we're making because they're costing us the games. That's how it is when you're not playing well."

Flames center Stephane Yelle appeared to suffer a serious injury late in the second period, when he collided with Bruins defenseman Jason York and got his right leg caught in the corner boards. He laid on the ice for several minutes before being taken off on a stretcher.

"He went into the boards awkward and jammed his ankle," Calgary coach Jim Playfair said. "He'll fly home with us tonight and get it checked out in the morning."