By: Evan Michael | Follow me on Twitter @00EvanMichael
On this day in Bruins history, two familiar franchise faces marched into the month by celebrating their very own hockey “firsts” on, rather fittingly, March the first!
On March 1, 1970, in the Bruins’ 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues, legendary B’s defenseman Bobby Orr scored his 25th goal of the season. This made him the first defenseman in NHL history to hit that mark!
That accomplishment ranked “No. 3” in an ESPN Top 10: Bobby Orr Moments montage highlighting his career. The ’69-’70 season would be filled with many a memorable Orr moment as he would lead the B’s to a Stanley Cup Championship in four games over the St. Louis Blues, culminating in perhaps the most famous shot in hockey history: “The Flying Goal.”
Speaking of goals, another “jumbo” accomplishment for a Bruins leader happened on March 1st, 2001 when Joe Thornton scored his first career hat trick in Boston’s 3-1 win against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.
Thornton, who celebrated his first NHL goal with the B’s four years earlier, was Boston’s No. 1 Draft Pick in 1997 and stayed with the Black N’ Gold until the Fall of 2005 when he was traded in a franchise-altering move to the San Jose Sharks.
Unlike Orr, Thornton didn’t have the playoff success or accolades to make his time with the Bruins as magical or memorable. But he did throw together an impressive 101-point season in 2002-2003, his best in Boston.
And when current B’s star David Pastrnak joins the accomplished company of players like Orr and Thornton (as tweeted above), then perhaps more history is set to “B” made in Boston soon.
Keep checking back in here on the BN’G Hockey Blog for our continued This Day in Bruins History series all month long!
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