Ullmark, Bruins defeat Panthers in Game 1 of Eastern 1st Round

BOSTON -- Linus Ullmark made 31 saves for the Boston Bruins in a 3-1 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden on Monday.

David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk scored, and Tyler Bertuzzi had two assists in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut for Boston, which won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team during the regular season (65-12-5).
"Results matter more than the process right now," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "When we look at our 5-on-5 game, we were not very happy with our process. So we can get better there, but the result was really good, and I think the result comes from we had some players play really well, especially our goaltender. … The intensity of the playoffs, it surprised us a little bit, and I think we had a little bit of nerves."

The Bruins played without captain Patrice Bergeron, who was a game-time decision because of an illness.
"Bergeron] was around all day and kind of talked to us before the game," DeBrusk said. "Obviously, such a presence. You could tell that he wants to be out there and he can't wait to get back in the mix. … We want to do it for him. That was the main goal at the start of the year, and I think it's one of those things where we got off on the right foot tonight, but it's really early."
Matthew Tkachuk scored, and Alex Lyon made 26 saves in his playoff debut for Florida, which is the second wild card from the East.
[RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers series coverage]
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be here Wednesday.
"I thought our defense, especially early on, did a great job of getting pucks through and to our net," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "I think we could make a few adjustments on our positioning there to give us just a chance to get to some more rebound chances and things, but that part was probably the strength of our game."

Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 5:58 of the first period. Lyon stopped David Krejci's initial one-timer, but Bertuzzi got the rebound and sent a no-look, backhand pass to Pastrnak, who scored into an open net.
"I don't think there's any question marks about him [Bertuzzi]," Marchand said. "He's just one of those guys that you hate to play against. He brings it every night. Like I said, his compete level is through the roof, so (he's) a guy that you knew was going to show up and be a playoff-type player."
Marchand made it 2-0 at 3:41 of the second period with a soft wrist shot from above the left circle that went in off the glove of Lyon.
Tkachuk cut it to 2-1 at 6:34, going backhand to forehand after Eetu Luostarinen's rim around the boards caromed to him off Dmitry Orlov.
"There were parts of our game that were good, and I feel like [the Bruins] got a little bit better as it got on," Tkachuk said. "Especially when you have a two-goal lead, it's easier to play. You're playing safer, and they packed it in pretty good on us, but I'm confident in our team, in our game, and seeing a lot of things that I think we could hang with these guys."

DeBrusk extended the lead to 3-1 at 17:32 of the second, swatting in the rebound of Bertuzzi's shot that was laying on top of Lyon's right skate.
Garnet Hathaway appeared to score again for Boston at 16:44 of the third period, but Maurice challenged the play for goaltender interference, and the call was reversed after a video review determined Hathaway knocked the puck out of Lyon's glove and into the net.
"I don't think we've ever been satisfied with any game we've had this year," Marchand said. "… It's always good to start the first game with a win, but we haven't accomplished anything yet."