At least there are 81 games remaining, right? Because it can't get much worse than Game No. 1, which saw Brooks Laich and Alex Ovechkin score a pair of goals and the Bruins commit mistake after mistake.

"This will not be the team you're going to see night after night this year," said Claude Julien. "That much I can guarantee."

* Bad goof by Dennis Wideman leading to the too many men call. Julien said Wideman should have chipped the puck out instead of throwing it toward the bench and causing confusion.

* The Bruins went 0 for 5 on the power play. They recorded only one power-play shot.

* Good intentions by Zdeno Chara to stick up for a teammate, but bad timing to chase down Alex Ovechkin and get nailed for cross-checking.

* The Bruins will practice at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at Ristuccia Arena.

STICK SALUTE: David Krejci. Didn't look like a player coming off hip surgery and zero preseason games.

SIN BIN: Marc Savard. Little offensive presence. Had lots of company in that department, though.

***

All done at the Garden. Capitals, 4-1.

14:26 (3). Lots of Matt Hunwick and Dennis Wideman together. Not much action for Mark Stuart and Andrew Ference.

9:43 (3). Shawn Thornton vs. John Erskine. Thornton starts the fight and Erskine obliges. Win for Thornton, who lands big rights and ends the fight by getting Erskine's jersey over his head.

7:56 (3). Capitals, 4-1. Patrice Bergeron with the breakaway backhander. Two hard fakes by Bergeron, then a clever tuck at the end. Finally some life.

1:57 (3). Capitals, 4-0. Alex Ovechkin muscles off a backchecking Milan Lucic, takes a pass from Tom Poti, and beats Tim Thomas. World-class play by Ovechkin, and nice dangle by Poti around Andrew Ference.

0:16 (3). Capitals, 3-0. Tim Thomas stops the first PP shot, but Brooks Laich sweeps in the rebound.

20:00 (2). After 40 minutes, Capitals with a 2-0 lead. Whimper of a second period from the Bruins.

* The Bruins will start the third with Zdeno Chara in the box. At the end of the second, Chara was nailed for cross-checking on Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin had dumped Mark Recchi, prompting Chara to stick up for his teammate. Away from the play, Derek Morris and Mike Green got in each other's faces.

* Boston's strength last year was puck possession. They haven't had much of the puck so far.

* Not much presence from the No. 1 line through two periods.

18:22 (2). Dennis Wideman taking a shift with Matt Hunwick.

17:01 (2). Byron Bitz with a good shot from the slot. One of the best scoring chances of the night, which isn't saying much for the Bruins.

13:25 (2). Milan Lucic back together with Marc Savard, but Blake Wheeler has slotted in for Marco Sturm. Sturm is still on the bench, so injury doesn't seem to be an issue.

11:39 (2). Milan Lucic taking a shift on the fourth line instead of Byron Bitz. Might be to get Lucic going.

10:54 (2). Derek Morris misses with a one-timer from the point. Morris can bring it.

9:30 (2). Capitals, 2-0. First of many for Alex Ovechkin this season. Alexander Semin leaves a drop pass for an in-stride Ovechkin, who whistles a wrister through Tim Thomas. Electric.

6:50 (2). Bad turnover by Dennis Wideman leads to a shot by Brooks Laich. Wideman has to quiet down his game.

6:20 (2). Heads-up play by Derek Morris to take the body on Alex Ovechkin when the wing was attempting a spin-o-rama.

2:11 (2) Multiple chances for the No. 2 line. David Krejci starts the play with a backhand pass to Blake Wheeler as they enter the zone with speed.

0:40 (2). Tim Thomas with the glove stop on John Erskine's rebound bid.

20:00 (1). After the first 20 minutes of 2009-10, Capitals with a 1-0 lead.

* Not much Tim Thomas could do on Brooks Laich's short-range goal. Inexcusable too many men penalty on the Bruins to give the Caps the PP. Thomas was sharp in the first, with a big-time kick save on Alexander Semin and a quick glove save of David Steckel's short-range SH shot.

* On the PK, Claude Julien sent out Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron to start (defensive-zone draws both times). Other PK forwards were Mark Recchi, David Krejci, and Blake Wheeler.

* During last year's playoffs, Derek Morris and Michal Roszival didn't see too much of Alex Ovechkin, as John Tortorella sent out his top pairing of Marc Staal and Dan Girardi to stare down No. 8. Morris, as the right-side D-man, went up against Ovechkin for most of the first.

* PP2 for the Bruins: Andrew Ference, Dennis Wideman, Bergeron, Krejci, Recchi.

* Wideman looks very active so far. He's jumping up tonight more than he did last season.

18:29 (1). Holding the stick on John Erskine. PP1: Zdeno Chara, Derek Morris, Marc Savard, Michael Ryder, Marco Sturm.

17:15 (1). Capitals, 1-0. Brooks Laich with the close-range PP tip-in after some tic-tac-toe passing from Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

17:00 (1). Too many men (AKA the Lewie) on the Bruins. Second PP for Washington coming up.

12:58 (1). A Steve Begin goal is waved off. Jose Theodore stopped a Byron Bitz shot and held it briefly before dropping it. Whistle had blown.

11:09 (1). Scoring chance for David Krejci after a nice flip pass by Michael Ryder.

6:28 (1). Fast pace and high tempo so far. Bruins with a 4-2 shot advantage.

4:00 (1). Excellent first shift from the fourth line, complete with cycling and big hits.

1:00 (1). As expected, Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron out against Alex Ovechkin.