I picked Pasta, but who was the most obscure first goal scorer? Sandy Moger?
I'd say either Moger, Kvartalnov, or Brett Ritchie. Ritchie was the worse player, but Kvartalnov was a flash in the pan. Other obscure fact is that Steve Heinze almost got it three years in a row somehow (in 1996 he scored the second goal of the year then he scored the first in 97 and 98). Where Moger takes the cake is that he was a nothing fill-in player but will always have the feather in his cap of getting the first goal in the new Garden.
1990: Dave Poulin
1991: Bob Sweeney
1992: Bryan Smolinski
1993: Dmitri Kvartalnov
1994*: Cam Neely (technically in 1995 due to lockout)
1995: Sandy Moger
1996: Rick Tocchet
1997: Steve Heinze
1998: Steve Heinze
1999: Ray Bourque
2000: Brian Rolston
2001: Nick Boynton
2002: Mike Knuble
2003: Joe Thornton
2004: N/A (lockout)
2005: Patrice Bergeron
2006: Marco Sturm
2007: Patrice Bergeron
2008: Phil Kessel
2009: Patrice Bergeron
2010: Nathan Horton
2011: Brad Marchand
2012*: Milan Lucic (technically in 2013 due to lockout)
2013: Chris Kelly (via shorthanded penalty shot!)
2014: Reilly Smith
2015: David Krejci
2016: David Pastrnak
2017: David Pastrnak
2018: Zdeno Chara (in game 2; opening night was a shutout)
2019: Brett Ritchie
2020*: Brad Marchand (technically in 2021 due to COVID)
2021: Brad Marchand