Bruins Shock Flyers With OT Win in Winter Classic

BOSTON -- The Bruins didn't give the home crowd a whole lot to cheer about for most of the 2010 Winter Classic. They made up for it at the end, though.

Marco Sturm tipped a Patrice Bergeron shot just under two minutes into overtime after Mark Recchi forced the extra session with a game-tying goal late in the third period, as the Bruins came back to win a 2-1 game that the Flyers led for exactly 33 minutes after Danny Syvret scored his first career NHL goal early in the second period.

"I told our guys that with the ice getting soft, we had to simplify our game," Boston coach Claude Julien said after the game. "The guys did an excellent job of staying within the game and we found a way."

"When we tied it up," said winning goalie Tim Thomas, "it was very exciting, but I wanted to take that one step further. Everybody on the bench wanted it so bad. When Marco scored the winner, that was one of the most incredible feelings that I can remember."

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It may not be evident simply from looking at the final score, but the NHL got a great on-ice product for its showcase game. Though it didn't feature the sexy skill or abundant goal-scoring of Winter Classics past, the Bruins and Flyers delivered on expectations: two gritty teams playing for much-needed points laid their bodies on the line in pursuit of the win. It was by far the most physical Winter Classic thus far, and even featured the first fight in the marquee game's history, when Shawn Thornton and Daniel Carcillo dropped the gloves in the first period.

"We were smiling and winking at each other a lot during warmups," Carcillo said in the visiting locker room at Fenway Park. "I figured something would happen. Like we talked about yesterday, you had to know this would be a physical game. Fenway Park, their rink, our rink ... it was going to be Flyers-Bruins hockey. The only thing that sucked was how the game ended."

All talk will center on the game finish. The Flyers swarmed the Boston net with a few chances to put the finishing goal away, but the Bruins escaped -- thanks to some large goaltending from Thomas, who was named to the U.S. Olympic team immediately after the game -- and countered with Sturm's winner, a shocking moment in a game which the Flyers seemed in control of throughout.

"We played well for 57 minutes," said Flyers right wing Ian Laperriere. Echoing the sentiment of his coaches and his teammates, Laperriere added, "I thought on that last goal the Bruins had too many men on the ice. Other than that, it was an incredible experience."

Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger bemoaned his team's inability to put the game away. "We must have had six or seven 2-on-1s that we didn't capitalize on," said Pronger. "The last five minutes were not our best, but to give up a power play goal near the end of regulation is a tough way to go."

Weather for the game was predictably cold, but forecasts of showers and snow earlier in the week came up empty, as the sun came out for the contest. It was the second Winter Classic to require overtime, as the Penguins needed a shootout to finish the Sabres 2-1 in 2008.

Notes: The Bruins are the first home team to win a Winter Classic. Detroit won in Wrigley Field over the Blackhawks in 2009. Pittsburgh won in Buffalo in 2008.

Flyers captain Mike Richards said the ice surface was, "Good. It would get a little choppy around the middle of each period, but all things considered the league did a great job." Jeff Carter added, "The fans were awesome from beginning to end. The atmosphere was tremendous. This has become a huge event and the league has done a very good job marketing it."

Philadelphia goalie Michael Leighton did not understand the impact of the Winter Classic until Thursday night. "When I got back to the hotel, I put on the TV and saw all the coverage of practice. That's when it hit me what a big deal this was and I started to get nervous."

Sturm, the hero with the game-winner, said he almost missed his first shift of the game. "I was looking around the stadium so much," he said. "It was incredible."