Current Boston Bruins’ First Career Goals Revisited

On Tuesday night Jakub Lauko became the latest player to score his first National Hockey League goal. He joins a fraternity that has over 5870 members, according to statistics obtained from NHL.com.

Playing in the NHL is everyone’s dream, but scoring a goal is even more special. It doesn’t matter if you reach 500 or never score again; earning your first is a memory that will last a lifetime.

Let’s go back into the vault and relive these Bruins players’ moments when they scored for the first time.

The current Bruins captain, Patrice Bergeron, is the longest-tenured on the roster. He is one of the few players still playing to tally his first NHL goal in 2003. On Oct 13, in his fifth game, Bergeron beat Roman Cechmanek of the Los Angeles Kings for the first of many power-play goals in his career.

Recently acquired forward Nick Foligno just started his 16th season in the league. As a member of the Ottawa Senators in 2007, he scored his first goal on Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens on Oct 18. Several months later, David Krejci, a lifetime Bruin, notched his first career goal against those same Senators. He beat Martin Gerber on Feb 26, the first of his 200+ goals.

Anton Stralman joined the Bruins in the summer of 2022 on a professional tryout. He originally debuted with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2007, scoring his first goal against Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres on Mar 21, 2008.

Across the continent on the west coast, Taylor Hall began his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers. On Oct 28, 2010, the former first-overall pick beat Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets for his first goal. A few days later, the Bruins celebrated Brad Marchand‘s first career goal, which occurred on Nov 3, 2010, against Jhonas Enroth. In typical Marchand fashion, he scored an unassisted shorthanded goal against division rivals, the Sabres.

Charlie Coyle played his first seven seasons with the Minnesota Wild. On Feb 13, 2013, he lit the lamp against Joey MacDonald and the Calgary Flames for his first career goal. Later in the calendar year, Hampus Lindholm, as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, tallied a goal against Mike Smith (Arizona Coyotes) on Nov 6 for his first.

Two years later, Bruins sniper David Pastrnak scored a power-play goal on Jan 10, 2015, against the late Ray Emery and the Philadelphia Flyers, for his first lamplighter. In the western conference, Derek Forbort started his career with the Kings, tallying his first goal against Jacob Markstrom and the Vancouver Canucks on Dec 28, 2015. Two months later, on Feb 13, 2016, Minnesota player Mike Reilly beat his new team (Bruins) and goalie Jonas Gustavsson for his first career goal.

At the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign, the team celebrated Brandon Carlo‘s first goal on Oct 16, 2016. He beat former Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. Less than a month later, as a member of the New Jersey Devils, Pavel Zacha scored his first career goal against the Florida Panthers and James Reimer on Nov 3, 2016. And before the season came to a close, Tomas Nosek scored his first goal on Mar 28, 2017, as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, against Cam Ward and the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Bruins celebrated two milestone goals on Oct 5, 2017, against the Nashville Predators. Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy scored their first goals in their first NHL games. Furthermore, the pair scored against former Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Raine. A month later, on Nov 24, 2017, Matt Grzelcyk became the newest member of the first goal club when he beat Matt Murray in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the offseason, the B’s acquired A.J. Greer, signing the left-winger to a two-year deal. He made his NHL debut with the Colorado Avalanche in 2016, scoring his first goal on Feb 20, 2019, against Hellebuyck and the Jets. Young defenceman Connor Clifton is next on the list, earning his first goal against Boston’s historic rival, the Canadiens, and Price on Nov 5, 2019.

Until Tuesday night, Trent Frederic was the last Bruins player to notch his first career goal on Feb 21, 2021, against the Flyers. He scored against former rookie sensation Carter Hart becoming the first player in this new decade to earn his first goal in black and gold.

The last entry on the list belongs to one of the upcoming stars from Czechia, Lauko. He became the latest Bruins player to score his first goal during the second period of the game against the Penguins on Nov 1, 2022. His tally came against Tristan Jarry. Technically, Lauko scored in the season’s second game, but the goal was called back after a coach’s challenge on a missed offside call.

We have covered all the players on the current roster, so let’s examine who scored their first goals against the goalie tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman.

Ullmark is in his second season with the Bruins after playing six years with the Sabres. So far, through 165 starts, Ullmark has given up the first goals to Scott Mayfield (New York Islanders), K’Andre Miller (New York Rangers), Alan Quine (Islanders), Janne Kuokkanen (Devils), and Alexis Lafreniere (Rangers). Meanwhile, Swayman has given up first career goals to Michael Pezzetta (Canadiens), Taylor Raddysh (Tampa Bay Lightning), Nicholas Abruzzese (Maple Leafs), and Matt Boldy (Minnesota).

Are there any memorable first goals you remember or witnessed in person? Let us know in the comments.