The first 10 minutes? Pretty good. Lots of pace. Good back-and-forth action.
The last 10 minutes? Also entertaining, with Patrice Bergeron scoring his first goal of the season and Shawn Thornton recording what is sure to be the first of many fistic wins when he got the better of tough Washington defenseman John Erskine.
In between? A whole lot of nothing, quite uncharacteristic for a proud bunch of Bruins.
“This will not be the team you’re going to see night after night this year,’’ said Julien. “That much I can guarantee.’’
In the days leading up to the opener, Julien cautioned that it might take some time for the Bruins’ game to come to them. They had only three practices leading into last night. They have centerpiece players in David Krejci, Marco Sturm, Matt Hunwick, and Andrew Ference returning from major injuries. As the team with the second-best record in the league last season, the target will be on all things Bruin throughout the year as opponents aim to take down the East’s beasts.
Combine those factors with last night’s opponent: the Flying Ovechkins. Then add in a month’s worth of mistakes, and it’s no surprise that the season opener turned into an embarrassment.
“Without throwing blame at anybody in particular, we had a lot of good players that were not very good for us tonight,’’ Julien said. “There were a lot of mental mistakes.
“You hope to take this game and use it as a learning experience. The guys need to learn from this. I don’t think that’s the kind of game you want to play in your own building in front of your own fans, and certainly not as a home opener. It’s certainly not what you want to demonstrate.’’
The errors:
■ An ill-advised first-period toss by Dennis Wideman toward the bench during a line change. Confusion follows, too many men hit the ice, and Brooks Laich buries a goal 15 seconds into the power play to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.
