NHL ROUNDUP : Neely Opens With a Hat Trick to Lead Bruins

After a summer of rehabilitation, a 103-day lockout, a week of training camp and two more days of waiting, Cam Neely was eager for the NHL season to start.

And when it finally did, he showed why.

Neely scored three goals to give Blaine Lacher a victory in his NHL debut on Sunday as the Bruins opened their final season in Boston Garden by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1.

Neely combined with Ray Bourque and Adam Oates on all three power-play goals for his 12th regular-season hat trick. He had 50 goals in 49 games last season.

“I’m sure we’ll read tomorrow about ‘The Cam Show,’ but Oatsie and Raymond made some great plays,” Bruin Coach Brian Sutter said. “And the guy (Lacher) gave us the chance to win it. . . . We needed a big game out of him and we got it.”

Neely’s third goal, with 4:18 to play, prompted the sellout crowd of 14,448 to shower him with hats that had to be cleared off by the Zamboni crew.

“It’s always a great feeling to see a response from the crowd,” Neely said. “Those hats aren’t cheap.”

Said Lacher, who had 18 saves: “I’ve never seen that before except on TV. I bet the souvenir people are going crazy selling hats.”

Calgary 4, Detroit 1--Gary Roberts had a goal and an assist and Trevor Kidd made 32 saves for the Flames at Detroit.

The Red Wings were trying to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 1972-73, but former Flame goaltender Mike Vernon struggled in his first game against his former teammates. Vernon played the first 11 seasons of his career in Calgary.

“I tried to forget about that as soon as I stepped on the ice, but it was kind of an emotional thing,” Vernon said. “I’m glad that it is over with.”

The Red Wings outshot the Flames in the first period, 16-4, but Calgary scored the only goal.

“We didn’t give Trevor a lot of help in that period, and he really kept us in the game,” Flame Coach Dave King said. “That was probably the key to the whole game.”

Buffalo 5, Tampa Bay 2--The Sabres didn’t seem bothered by the absence of Pat LaFontaine as they scored on three of their first five shots at St. Petersburg, Fla.

LaFontaine has yet to make his season debut while allowing his right knee to heal completely from surgery on Dec. 3, 1993. The Buffalo News reported that he will be sidelined three to four weeks.

New Jersey 2, Hartford 2--Neither team scored after Bob Carpenter’s goal with more than 11 minutes to play in the second period pulled the Devils even at Hartford, Conn.

N.Y. Islanders 3, Ottawa 3--Craig Billington made 36 saves to help the Islanders salvage a tie at Uniondale, N.Y.