Rick Nash brings net-front presence and other lingering thoughts from Game 1

BRANDON, Fla. — The Bruins will practice Sunday at 1 p.m. at Ice Sports Forum. Bruce Cassidy and players will speak with the media shortly after. Until then, here are some picked up pieces from the Bruins Game 1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Secondary scoring: It's no fun to celebrate alone, but don't tell Rick Nash that. He'll party anywhere. Nash sniped a goal in the second period to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead, but he seemed to be the only one who noticed. He shot the puck so hard it caromed off a post and kicked out of the net so quickly that play did not stop immediately. Nash, meanwhile, was celebrating alone with his hands in the air.

"First, I looked at the ref's reaction and he pointed that it was a goal," Nash said. "Then we went to the huddle and (David Pastrnak) told me it didn't go in, it was post-post. It was a roller coaster of emotions."

The reason the Bruins added Nash before the trade deadline was more for his physical presence, which was on full display on his first goal, which gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead. He parked himself in front of the net and tipped a shot from Pastrnak into the net. Boston's top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Pastrnak was money in Game 1. They totaled for 11 points, but getting secondary scoring from Nash was what got the Bruins going early. Nash admitted that goals "come in bunches" for him. They didn't in the first round when he had just two points. They seem to be coming now, and getting support from depth lines will be big going forward.

Sean Kuraly gets a bump: Toward the end of the first period, Cassidy bumped Sean Kuraly from the fourth line to replace Riley Nash as the third-line center. Kuraly is quicker and gave the Bruins a different look against the Lightning's top line of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and J.T. Miller. The Bruins need more from Nash, who had just one assist in the first round and a plus/minus of -2. Kuraly entered this series with four points and juice in his legs.

Z delivered: The Bruins always count on Zdeno Chara to maintain the blue line and he was perhaps at his best Saturday than he's been in the postseason thus far. He logged 22:52 on the ice and anchored the Bruins penalty kill. He had four hits and four blocks, but more importantly, looked fresh after a grueling series against the Maple Leafs.

No goal: Brad Marchand's waved off goal ultimately got lost in the shuffle of Saturday's 6-2 win. He ripped a shot into the net in the second period that would have given the Bruins a 3-1 lead, but it was called off because Pastrnak cross-checked Tyler Johnson in the corner away from the play. It didn't hurt the Bruins as they kept piling it on against the Lightning, but that's a play that could have a big impact had the Lightning responded with a goal on the ensuing power play.

"Some calls will go your way some aren't," Cassidy said. "I couldn't see it in the corner, I thought we scored. Then you hear the crowd cheering."