If you need a scouting report on Chris Kelly, you probably shouldn’t ask Chris Kelly. 

The Bruins’ third-line center is humble to the point where he rarely acknowledges his own production, perhaps to avoid accidentally patting himself on the back. In his mind, it seems, any achievement of his is either a product of what his teammates were doing or a lucky bounce. 

Ask any of Kelly’s teammates about him, however, and you can get an appreciation for what the Bruins' unsung hero (Claude Julien’s words) brings to the team. 

“It’s a pleasure to play with him, because I know where he’s going to be all the time,” linemate Brian Rolston said. “I know the plays he’s going to make. Nothing extraordinary, but just quality plays. He’s a great player.”

Kelly was the hero in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Thursday at TD Garden. After Tim Thomas stopped Marcus Johansson in overtime, Joe Corvo sent the puck to Rolston, who moved it to Benoit Pouliot. Kelly then took a feed from Pouliot, flew down the wing, and rifled a slap shot past Capitals goalie Braden Holtby for the only goal of the game.  

“I saw Chris take the long pass, and saw he had a step on the defenseman, and I had a good feeling,” Tim Thomas said after the game. “I had a good feeling that it was going to go in, and I had a good feeling about the guy who had the puck. 

“I could tell he had something today. Earlier in the third period, when he cut across the net, he pretty much came closest to score out of anybody on the team tonight, before he got that opportunity in overtime. And also he’d been winging a few past me in practice the last couple of days, and I could tell his shot’s going right now. He’s humble. He doesn’t think so. But I’ve seen it.”

As he sat next to Thomas, Kelly, who was already wearing a gigantic chain, could sense himself getting that attention he spends to much time trying to deflect. 

“He’s being nice,” Kelly said of Thomas.

Whether he wants the praise or not, Kelly, whose leadership qualities earned him an ‘A’ in his first full season with the team, has been a major part of the Bruins’ success over the last 1 1/2 seasons. His line has helped create matchup problems against most of the Bruins’ opponents, and it won games for the Bruins last postseason. Thursday was more of the same, but when you ask Kelly what he’s done to be so successful, his answer is also more of the same. 

“I think I’ve had a great opportunity to play with some great players since I’ve been here,” Kelly said. “Obviously Michael Ryder last year, and Rich Peverley are great offensive players. They’ve shown that this year and in the past and obviously playing with Benny and Brian, they’re great offensive players too that have proven that in the past. I’ve been really fortunate to play with some really good players.

“I try to play the game the exact same way every night and -- I’ve said it before -- some nights those bounces go in and some nights they don’t, but I think I’ve learned over the years you try to be as consistent as you can in every game.”

DEFENSE QUIETS OVECHKIN … AND EVERYONE ELSE

Julien has been known to chime in on what the media decides to make stories. For example, on the Bruins’ first day of local availability after "alarmgate" in Winnipeg, Julien announced Tyler Seguin’s disciplinary situation was no longer news. As Steve Buckley once put it, he’s a great coach who probably wouldn’t make a great sports editor. 

Thursday morning, Julien called the focus on the Zdeno Chara-Alexander Ovechkin matchup “hype for the media.” It’s true -- some media members had gotten so wrapped up in the Chara-Ovechkin matchup earlier in the week that they sifted through box scores to see everything that’s happened when the two have been on the ice against each other, but there was a reason for that. 

The reason is simple: It’s Alexander Ovechkin. 

He’s an underachiever, sure, but Ovechkin is talented enough to terrify opposing teams. You don’t score 65 goals in a season by accident, so the Bruins needed Chara -- and Dennis Seidenberg and Patrice Bergeron’s line, which features also features Brad Marchand -- to work hard to keep him quiet. 

The work paid off on Thursday. Ovechkin took just two shots the entire game, and only one landed on net. The shot came on the power play with Chara in the  box in the third period, and it was perhaps Thomas’ biggest save in regulation. 

But that was pretty much it Thursday from Ovechkin, who even in the worst year of his career averaged just under four shots per game. The Chara-Seidenberg pairing took away his space in Game 1, but it was often Seidenberg who found himself in Ovechkin’s personal space. The German defenseman threw two hits on Ovechkin, one of which was a loud hit in the neutral zone that sent both players to the ice and the sold-out Garden crowd to its feet. 

Seidenberg actually got the worst of the hit, but when your job is to keep the other guy from making a play, style points don’t matter. 

“He’s very solid and I just got – I don’t know, I just tried to hit him,” Seidenberg said after the game. “It doesn’t matter who falls at the end, I’ve just got to be in his way so he can’t do anything.”

To give Julien and the Bruins’ other defensemen credit, it wasn’t just the top pair that came through for Boston. The pairing of Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ference kept Nicklas Backstrom’s line from doing damage, while Joe Corvo was the one who sent the puck to Brian Rolston following Thomas’ save in overtime to set up Kelly’s goal. As a whole, the Bruins’ title defense started with some pretty strong defense.

The end result was just 17 shots on goal for the Capitals in over 61 minutes of play. That made Thomas’ job easier, as the reigning Conn Smythe winner’s night was relatively easy until the third period (seven shots on goal through the first two periods). The defense’s work helped pave the way for Thomas’ second consecutive postseason shutout dating back to last June.  

“I can’t remember an odd-man rush off hand, certainly no breakaways,” Thomas said. “Most of the good opportunities we gave up came from their power play which is a very good power play. I did realize they played a very physical game, I saw Ovechkin going at it with both Seidenberg and Chara and a big hit at center ice there on Ovechkin that Seidenberg laid and that’s good. That shows me they’re ready to play playoff-style hockey.”