Begin

BOSTON — Winger Marco Sturm’s scoring woes (one goal, 23 games) have been well-documented. So how disappointed must the veteran winger have been after he both left today’s game with a lower-body injury and then watched Steve Begin take his next shift next to Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron and score the game’s first goal?

Begin should at least have dedicated the goal to the German speedster, who did not return the rest of the day.

“I didn’t think about it, but if you want I can do it. I’ll go tell him,” Begin said with a smile after Boston’s 5-4 overtime win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series with Philadelphia at TD Garden.

Begin banged home a loose puck after Mark Recchi’s backhand pass was deflected.

“When I got out there with Bergy and Rex, I knew something was going to happen,” he explained. “I knew I had to go to the net. The puck ended up on my stick, so it was good and hopefully there’s many more to come.”

So in his 30-game NHL playoff career, Begin now has one goal. It was a big one, as it got the Bruins on the road, albeit a bumpy one, to the series-opening victory. Of course, Begin isn’t exactly required to put  the puck in the net as much as he’s expected to put opponents on their rears and into the glass and win big draws.

“I was aware, of course,” said Begin when asked about his goal-less stretch of playoff hockey “But it’s something, you want to score but there are other things too that are important to the team, especially in the playoffs. Every little thing, the little details that anybody brings to the table, it’s huge for the team.”

Those little details, as well as anything big Begin can do, are going to come in handy if the Bruins are without Sturm for any length of time. Although Sturm hasn’t been scoring, the Bruins’ offense can ill afford to be without any of its snipers or would-be snipers, even if Begin proves he can be add “offensive weapon” to his resume.

“I think I played on pretty much every line tonight. Everybody did,” said Begin, who scored just five goals in the regular season. “That’s why we have to stay focused when the coach calls somebody. [There are] different lines, you have to stay ready, and I think we were tonight. We were ready as a team.”