The 'Nervous' Bruins accomplish enough to win the series over the Panthers.

 'Nervous' Bruins do enough, top Panthers to take series lead

 Nervous Bruins do enough, top Panthers to take series lead

Boston -- The Boston Bruins set records for wins and points in the standings at the end of the NHL regular season, giving them a lot of confidence. Be that as it may, in Game 1 of their series against the Florida Pumas on Monday night, the Bruins conceded they had premiere night season finisher butterflies in a 3-1 triumph.

"Definitely. I think everybody was anxious. I was worried. I'm certain a great deal of folks were. This is the very thing we've been working for the entire year," said winger Brad Marchand, who had an objective in the success. " It's just typical for folks to feel as such. However, it's also nervous excitement. It's a chance for us to trust the process and build on what we've done all year.

The team's first six minutes against Florida were enjoyable for coach Jim Montgomery, but "the intensity of the playoffs surprised us a little bit" after that.

"I think we had a smidgen of nerves," he said.

David Pastrnak scored on the power play at 5:58 of the first period, giving Boston a 1-0 lead. That was the situation until Marchand scored at 3:41 of the second period to make it 2-0. Yet, Florida's Matthew Tkachuk addressed that objective just shy of three minutes after the fact, slicing the lead to 2-1.

They make a strong team. They did push hard, as we knew they would. In the second period, "we kind of got away from our game when we started turning over too many pucks in the neutral zone and the top of the circles," Marchand stated.

At 17:32 of the second period, winger Jake DeBrusk scored an unusual goal by poking a loose puck into the net after it bounced off goalie Alex Lyon's pad.

"Just now, I noticed the puck on his pad. I just tried to dive for it because I thought it would be goaltender interference if I hit his pad, so I tried to get over it," he said.

With 31 saves, goaltender Linus Ullmark maintained the lead, despite being a game-time decision due to illness and injury.

That was pleasant. You know, we just got to get 15 more," Ullmark said.

Montgomery needs to see a superior exertion before his goalie.

"We are dissatisfied with our procedure when we examine our 5-on-5 game. The fact that some of our players performed exceptionally well, particularly our goaltender, contributed to the outcome," he stated.

Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins' captain, was ruled out of the game but did not participate in warmups. He was not able to play in Game 1, but his presence was felt, regardless of whether it was because of a persistent injury or an illness that spread through the Bruins' locker room.

"He was around the entire day and had a conversation with us before the game. He has such an impact. DeBrusk stated, "You can tell that he can't wait to get out there." Seeing him around boosts your spirits. We want to take care of him. At the beginning of the year, that was a major objective. Tonight was a good start for us. However, it is still early."

Boston will host Game 2 on Wednesday night.