BOSTON, MA – Before the puck drop for Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a special ceremony was held to commemorate Boston Bruins Captain Zdeno Chara on playing his 1,000th career game Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.

With the lights dimmed, a video that featured highlights of Chara's career, as well as comments from Bruins legend John "Chief" Bucyk, Head Coach Claude Julien, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron played on GardenHDX - the arena's central center ice scoreboard.

NESN color-commentator Andy Brickley facilitated the ceremony, while Chara – accompanied by his wife Tatiana and daughter Elliz Victoria – received flowers from alternate captains Bergeron, Ference and Chris Kelly.

The Bruins veteran defenseman also received a silver Tiffany's crystal, a silver replica of his stick from Cam Neely and a vacation package to stay at a hotel anywhere in the world from his teammates.

"It’s obviously very nice to get that recognition and ceremony," Chara said after the B's 5-2 win. "I very much appreciate it. It’s very nice from the NHL, the Boston Bruins organization, from my teammates and everybody that supported me."

To conclude the ceremony, Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli unveiled and presented a portrait of the defenseman, painted by sports artist Tony Harris, to Chara.

"On behalf of the Boston Bruins and the Jacobs family, Zee, Tatiana and Elliz, we wanted to congratulate you on this great achievement," Chiarelli said. "One thousand games is an impressive milestone."