Exactly six months since his last regular game, Chris Kelly made sure he made a big impact in his return to the Bruins lineup. Thanks to a back injury that required off-season surgery, Kelly missed the Bruins final three regular season games and the entire 2013-14 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As the Bruins hosted the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night at TD Garden to kick off the 2014-15 season, Kelly was back in the lineup, to the left of two familiar faces.  Due to injuries to both Kelly and Loui Eriksson, the trio of Kelly, Carl Soderberg and Eriksson didn’t get as much playing time together as they would have liked, but when they did get the chance to play together, they were one of the best lines the Bruins had.

Reunited in game one of 82, the Soderberg line was the Bruins best as they skated to a 2-1 victory in front of a sold out crowd. Kelly’s third-period goal with just under two minutes left in regulation was the perfect ending to a very good game for Kelly and his line mates.

“I just wanted to go out there and feel good and enjoy it,” said Kelly after scoring on opening night for the second time in as many seasons. “Last year was taken away from me and made me realize how much I missed the game and want to be out there playing. I just tried to enjoy the whole night and tried to play my game. For sure there’s no better feeling.”

With a few key forwards out of the lineup and some new faces inserted in their place, finding the right line combinations was no easy task for head coach Claude Julien. Putting Kelly, Soderberg and Eriksson together made perfect sense for Julien, and his faith in the trio certainly paid off.

“Yeah, I thought they were good tonight. I thought they had a lot of chances and they moved the puck around,” said Julien. “You could see they had played together before. Again, it was important for me to have two lines that were familiar with each other tonight in the situation that we’re in.”

As the game moved along, the line seemed to get better and better. Kelly echoed that after the win.

“Yeah I think we haven’t really played together throughout training camp. Obviously we played together last year when the three of us weren’t injured, but I thought as the game went on we got clicking better and better” added Kelly.

Kelly went on to joke about playing alongside Soderberg and Eriksson.

“I don’t really like playing with Carl and Loui so I think Bergeron needs a winger up there” said a smiling Kelly. “No, yeah obviously I like playing with the Swedes even though half the time I never understand them on the bench.”

The Bruins surely missed Kelly last season as they were ousted by the Montreal Canadiens in seven games of the Eastern Conference semifinals. You probably won’t see Kelly score 20 goals again — something he did with the Bruins three seasons ago — but what Kelly brings to the table away from the score sheet is what makes him so valuable.

As the Bruins continue to juggle lines around until guys get healthy or the right mix of forwards is found, one thing is for sure. If the Soderberg line continues to buzz like it did Tuesday night, you’ll see plenty of Kelly and “the Swedes.”

With the departure of Jarome Iginla this past summer, many expected to see Eriksson as the Bruins’ first line right wing, playing to the right of Milan Lucic and David Krejci. But with Krejci out for at least two games, things had to be moved around a bit.

Julien wouldn’t tip his hand in regards to whether or not he would break up the Soderberg line and move Eriksson to the top line when Krejci returns.

“I’m not there yet, so I don’t have to answer that, right?” Julien said with a smile “I got a chance to think about it. I don’t have an answer for you.”

See what the Bruins had to say following their 2-1 win over the Flyers Tuesday night: