Bruins sneak past Caps

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photos by Charles Krupa / the associated press Capitals defenceman Mike Green and Bruins left-winger Brad Marchand tangle during the first period of Game 1 of their series opener Thursday. (CP)

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Capitals left-winger Alex Ovechkin levels Boston Bruins defenceman Dennis Seidenberg. (CP)

BOSTON -- Chris Kelly's newest piece of jewelry is a thick, padlocked chain that he wore around his neck after scoring the game-winning goal in Boston's playoff opener on Thursday night.

The message: Try not to be the weak link.

"He wasn't," Bruins goalie Tim Thomas said after Kelly's goal on a long slapshot 1:18 into overtime gave the defending Stanley Cup champions a 1-0 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

"I had a good feeling that it was going to go in, and I had a good feeling about the guy who had the puck," said Thomas, the reigning Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophy-winner. "I could tell he had something tonight. He'd been winging a few past me in practice the past few days."

Thomas stopped all 17 shots he faced for Boston to earn his sixth career playoff shutout -- four of them on Boston's 2011 championship run. But he was matched for three periods by Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, a third-stringer making his playoff debut because of injuries to Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth.

Holtby made 29 saves for the Capitals and he was still perfect when Thomas turned back Marcus Johansson with a toe save that started the Bruins on the break. Brian Rolston dropped it for Benoit Pouliot to clear the zone, and he pushed it up to Kelly.

At the top of the left playoff circle, Kelly uncorked a slapper that sailed over Holtby's glove for the game-winner. That earned Kelly the necklace that has taken the place of last year's good-luck charm, a tattered windbreaker that the Bruins handed out to the star of the game during their run to the franchise's first NHL title since 1972.

"It's always nice to end it fairly early," said Kelly, who thought the shot deflected off a defenceman's stick. "Goalies are so good now I think the days of going down the wing and beating a goalie are long gone. So I was pleasantly surprised to see it go in."

Washington star Alex Ovechkin consoled Holtby on the ice while the Bruins celebrated their first victory in their quest to become the first repeat Stanley Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.

Game 2 is Saturday at the TD Garden before the series moves to Washington for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Thursday.

"The next game will be different," Ovechkin said.

Kelly, 31, had career highs with 20 goals and 39 points.

"The coaching staff has talked about how he has been the unsung hero this year," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "Scoring 20 goals, something he has never done before -- he hasn't always had the same wingers. He has produced this year more than ever and been so reliable defensively."

A 21-year-old veteran of just 21 NHL games, Holtby got into the Capitals' lineup because of Vokoun's groin injury and a leg injury to Neuvirth. He played in only seven games this season, but he started five of Washington's final 10 games.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 13, 2012 C2