Marchand, Bruins get past Stars in season opener

BOSTON -- Brad Marchand scored twice, including on a penalty shot, to help the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 win in their season opener against the Dallas Stars at TD Garden on Saturday.

Marchand became the third player in NHL history to score his team's first goal of the season on a penalty shot. His five penalty-shot goals are tied with Vincent Lecavalier for third in NHL history behind Pavel Bure (seven) and Mario Lemieux (six).
"It's nice when [penalty shots] work out," Marchand said. "The only thing that I was really thinking about was not missing it."
Erik Haula and Nick Foligno each had an assist in his Bruins debut, and Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves.
"[Swayman] was good," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He had a little less work than (Stars goalie Braden) 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."
Luke Glendening scored, and Holtby made 37 saves for the Stars, who were coming off a win in their opener, 3-2 in overtime at the New York Rangers on Thursday.
"We haven't found our team game yet," Dallas 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."

Marchand gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 17:38 of the first period after being awarded the penalty shot when Dallas defenseman Ryan Suter held his stick on a breakaway.
"When I knew [the play] wasn't [offside], I just kind of kept going and tried to get inside of Suter," Marchand said. "Luckily, they called that one."
The Stars' first shot on goal was at 15:58 of the first by Jamie Benn.
"When you don't have many shots, it's just something that you have to work on mentally," Swayman said. "I think playing in between the whistles -- just whistle to whistle -- helps me a lot."
Boston outshot Dallas 17-5 in the period.
"We knew they were going to come hard, and they just kept coming," 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."
Glendening tied it 1-1 at 9:15 of the second period with a wrist shot from the high slot.
"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."

Jake DeBrusk gave Boston a 2-1 lead at 4:43 of the third period when he put in a loose puck in front.
"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 scored into an empty net at 18:23 for the 3-1 final.
NOTES: Swayman became the first rookie goalie to start a season opener for Boston since Blaine Lacher on Jan. 22, 1995, against the New York Islanders. It was Swayman's 11th NHL regular-season game. … Marchand has scored seven goals in Bruins openers, the fourth-most in their history behind Cam Neely (12), Ray Bourque (nine), and Phil Esposito (eight). … Defenseman Derek Forbort (one shot) and forward Tomas Nosek (two shots, two hits) each made his Bruins debut. … The other players to score a team's first goal of a season on a penalty shot are Chris Kelly (Oct. 3, 2013, for Boston against the Tampa Bay Lightning) and Mats Sundin (Oct. 4, 2006, for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Ottawa Senators).