As they labored through spring training in Florida, the Mets declared again and again how impatient they were for the games to count.

There were questions to answer, after all, a chorus of doubters to prove wrong.

For one game, the first of many in what may yet prove to be a difficult season, the Mets did just that. Their ace, Johan Santana, looking to regain his old form after career-threatening surgery, pitched five smooth innings. Their franchise face, David Wright, coming off the most frustrating season of his career, reached base three times and drove in the winning run. Their bullpen, redesigned over the winter, navigated four tense, scoreless innings.

Even the sky was blue as the Mets began their season on Thursday afternoon with a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves before a record-breaking crowd of 42,080 at a remodeled Citi Field. There are 161 games to go, but the Mets are officially allowed to feel good about themselves.

“It’s one game, but it’s very, very important for us,” Manager Terry Collins said. “We’d been preaching all spring that we can play with anybody.”