Kelly's goal early in OT lifts Bruins in playoff opener

BOSTON -- Seeing Chris Kelly do special things in the playoffs is nothing new for Bruins coach Claude Julien. That's why Julien wasn't shocked when Kelly scored 1:18 into overtime Thursday night to give Boston a 1-0 win over the Washington Capitals as the Bruins began defense of their Stanley Cup title.

"He was great for us in the playoffs last year, and I hope that's the start of another great playoff stretch for him," Julien said after Kelly blasted one past rookie goalie Braden Holtby for the winner, giving the second-seeded Bruins their first 1-0 overtime playoff win since 1935.

Last year, the Bruins got Kelly from the Senators at the trade deadline, and he went on to contribute five goals, 13 points and other variables in the playoffs as the club won its first Cup in 39 years. Kelly scored a career-high 20 goals this season and now has the team's only goal of the playoffs. It was his 10th career playoff goal.

After Tim Thomas made his 17th and final save off a Washington rush, Kelly took a cross-ice pass from linemate Benoit Pouliot and beat Holtby with a slapper, spoiling what had been a marvelous playoff debut for Holtby.

"It's always nice to end it fairly early," said Kelly, who added he thought the shot deflected off a defenseman'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."

The series resumes Saturday at TD Garden before shifting to Washington for Games 3 and 4.

Last year, the Bruins lost the first two games of their first-round series with the Canadiens in Montreal before rallying to start their run to the Cup. Thursday night, they almost lost a game they controlled for two periods, holding the Caps to seven shots through 40 minutes, before Washington came on in the third.

That's when the seventh-seeded Capitals ran into Thomas, who had been snoozing for two periods but had to make nine saves in the third, one of them a power-play one-timer from Alex Ovechkin.

Thomas, the hero of last year's playoffs, pitched his sixth career postseason shutout, his second straight. (He blanked Vancouver 4-0 in Game 7 of the finals). The six playoff shutouts tie him with Tiny Thompson for second on the club's all-time list, two behind Gerry Cheevers.

"You know Tim is what he is," said teammate Brian Rolston, who also assisted on the winner. "There's a reason he won the Conn Smythe last year, and he was great for us tonight, and obviously you need good goaltending in the playoffs, and he was phenomenal tonight."

So was Holtby, playing because Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth are hurt.

Kelly had been thwarted by a Holtby poke check earlier, but he became the hero as the Bruins won 1-0 in playoff OT for the first time since Dit Clapper scored March 23, 1935, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was Boston's first 1-0 playoff overtime game since May 12, 1995, and the first ever for the Capitals.

Holtby was perfect until he couldn't get Kelly's shot. Now, he has to shake it off and bounce back for Game 2.

"He'll be fine. He has lots of confidence," coach Dale Hunter said. "It was one of those shots way inside the post. Not too many goalies would have had it."

The Bruins, trying to become the NHL's first repeat champions since the 1998 Red Wings, failed to score on six straight minutes of power-play time at the end of the first period and into the second. Jay Beagle went off for four minutes for high sticking David Krejci with 1:33 left in the second period. The Caps, who had wasted a power play earlier in the second period, killed the double minor, but just as Beagle was returning, Troy Brouwer cleared a rolling puck over the glass for another two-minute penalty.

Again, the Bruins failed to score and, even though Boston had a 10-0 shots advantage in the first 10 minutes of the second period, neither team was on the board. Boston outshot Washington 17-2 in the second period but then had only three shots in the third.

NOTES: The Capitals took the regular-season series 3-1, winning both games in Boston, the second in a shootout. ... Ovechkin, who had only one shot on goal, came in with 50 points in 37 playoff games, his 1.35 average the fourth best in NHL history. ... The Bruins were without right wing Nathan Horton, declared out of the playoffs because of his second concussion in less than a year, and defenseman Adam McQuaid, out with an eye/head injury. Goalie Tuukka Rask, making his way back from a groin injury, is close to being able to return to serve as Thomas' backup. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who missed two games with a left knee injury, returned to the lineup. ... Boston defenseman Andrew Ference appeared in his 100th playoff game. ... The Boston College hockey team, which just recorded the program's third national title in the last five years, was saluted by the crowd during a first-period stoppage.