With dozens of the franchise legends in the house and looking on, Jim Montgomery and the Bruins made sure they ended a night that started with a celebration of 100 years of Bruins hockey in the best way possible: with a win.

“I thought the ceremony was fantastic,” Montgomery said following his team’s victory. “A great tribute to the 100 years of great players. I thought it was great that, the unfortunate ones that couldn’t be with us, that family members represented them. And, you know, to see Cam Neely and Ray Bourque and Johnny Bucyk and Terry O’Reilly and Bobby Orr, you know, what an ovation he got. Well-deserved. But it makes you feel special to be a Bruin. And even though it was a long process, I could feel it on the bench.”

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The long wait, along with some pregame jitters for all involved, led to what was best described as an uneven start. The puck was bouncing, bodies were flying, and it felt like a game of who’ll blink first. It was hardly a masterpiece from the B’s — speaking after the win, Montgomery called his team’s game ‘very average’ — but the Bruins buckled down when they needed to, and put forth a strong third-period effort to seal the deal on this one.

And in what was a continuation of last year’s record-breaking regular season, the team once again got strong goaltending from Linus Ullmark, who turned aside all but one of the 21 shots he faced in the winning performance.

Ullmark’s best save of the evening came in the third period, too, with the Bruins protecting a one-goal lead and the Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard bearing down on him in what was a partial breakaway opportunity.

With the win, the Bruins extended their Opening Night win streak to five games, with Boston’s last Opening Night loss coming back in 2018, and at the hands of the Capitals in what was a 7-0 beatdown.

Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a 3-1 win at TD Garden…

• No. 3 Star: Milan Lucic

  

  Oct 11, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) celebrates his goal with left wing Milan Lucic (17) during the second period against the Blackhawks at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

• What a first game back in Boston — and back in a Bruins sweater — for Milan Lucic.

  Given one of the loudest ovations of the pregame festivities, Lucic made sure he provided more than nostalgia Wednesday night. Riding on a fourth line with Johnny Beecher and Jakub Lauko for the start of the night, the line dominated the first frame, and actually finished with a 4-0 advantage in on-ice shots.

  It was enough to earn Lucic a promotion up to the Zacha-Pastrnak line, where he came through with the primary helper on the Pastrnak tally that held as the game-winning goal by the night’s end.

  The apple was also good for Lucic’s first point in a B’s uniform since Mar. 31, 2015.

  Lucic on that reception from the fans: “It’s a special time in life, those years I spent here. It’s good to have emotion and show emotion.”

  — Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) October 12, 2023

  Another underrated element of Lucic’s game: His ability to possess the puck along the wall. It allowed the Bruins to extend their attacking-zone time, and really opened the ice up for some quality chances.

• No. 2 Star: Hampus Lindholm

  

  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 11: Hampus Lindholm #27 of the Bruins defends Taylor Raddysh #11 of the Blackhawks during the second period of the Bruins home opener at TD Garden. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

• Drawing the Connor Bedard assignment was going to be tough for any Boston defenseman in this one. But it was one hell of a game for Hampus Lindholm (and his pairing partner Brandon Carlo for that matter), who downright dominated the night at both end of the ice, in this contest.

  Deployed for 16:37 of five-on-five action, the Bruins maintained a 38-15 shot attempt advantage, 19-9 shot advantage, and 2-0 edge in goals with Lindholm on the ice. And that came with Lindholm having the second-lowest offensive-zone faceoff percentage among all Bruins.

  But what was most impressive among that five-on-five excellence: 10:43 of it came against the Blackhawks’ Bedard, and during that stretch, Lindholm and the Bruins outshot Chicago 11-7, and out-chanced them 9-6. Keeping in mind that Bedard finished his NHL debut with a game-high 0:50 of offensive-zone possession (per ESPN), that’s nothing to sneeze at.

  Lindholm also finished the night with a game-high plus-3 rating, while his three shots on goal were tied for the second-most among all Boston skaters, trailing only Pastrnak and his four shots on goal.

• No. 1 Star: David Pastrnak

  

  Oct 11, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) celebrates with left wing Brad Marchand (63) after their 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

• There’s just something about Opening Night that gets the blood flowing for David Pastrnak.

  Skating in what was his eighth career Opening Night contest, Pastrnak carried the Bruins with the game-winning goal and then the insurance marker of the empty-net dagger, and finished this game with nine total shot attempts (tops among all Bruins and Blackhawks). And as he has many times, No. 88 made scoring look downright easy, with his second-period snipe on Chicago’s Arvid Soderblom looking downright effortless.

  David Pastrnak's first of the season gives Boston a 2-1 lead. Milan Lucic marks his return with the primary assist #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/AVRrG10bFJ

  — Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 12, 2023

  But again, perhaps this is what you should’ve expected from Opening Night Pastrnak.

  With the two-goal performance, Pastrnak’s eight-game run on Opening Night now features seven goals and 13 points. I hope you hammered ‘Pastrnak anytime goal’ on whatever betting app you use. And if you didn’t, fear not, because Boston’s top goal-scoring threat is currently signed for another seven Opening Nights in town.

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