Game 1: Coyotes 5, Bruins 2

(Note: This is the beginning of something I'm going to try to do throughout the season. I don't have access to the players, so writing game stories without quotes would be pretty useless. I'm instead going to do something called "The Good, the Bad and the Rest." Here's the first one below, let's hope I keep it up all season. The "Attaboy" is meant to be the best performer/standout factor, while the "Providence Shuttle" isn't meant to suggest demotion, but...well, you get it.)

The Good

• Nathan Horton: The big winger looked excellent in his Bruin debut. As Joe Haggerty of CSNNE put it, Horton looked dangerous every time he had the puck in the slot. If Horton can play every night like he did this afternoon, then maaaaaaybe I'll be more OK with the fateful Wides trade. After one game though, Horton looks great.
• Tuukka Rask: You wouldn't expect the goalie to be on the "good" list in a 5-2 loss, but Rask actually played pretty well. I don't think any of the four goals he allowed were really his fault, and the sophomore made some huge saves to keep the B's in the game early. Rask finished the game with 32 saves, including a couple of highlight-reel flourishes with his glove. He may have allowed four goals, but Rask was hardly the problem.
• Gregory Campbell: Campbell was somewhat overlooked in the Horton-Wideman trade, but the fourth-line centerman earns high marks here for dropping the gloves with Vernon Fiddler in the third period. He'll certainly earn a lot of kudos from his teammates for fighting, and his scrap seemed to energize the team, if only for a few minutes.

The Bad

• Dennis Seidenberg: Oy. Early in NESN's telecast, Jack Edwards commented on a remark GM Peter Chiarelli made about Seidenberg, saying (paraphrasing here) that he "had a lot of rust to work off." Well Seidenberg looked as rusty as the Tin Man after a rainstorm today, appearing slow and sloppy and getting beaten badly on Taylor Pyatt's net-front goal. At his best, Seidenberg is an outstanding puck-mover and an offensive threat, but today he was a liability.
• Power(less) Play: Different year, same story? The B's power play was an area of weakness last year, and in this year's first game it appeared that little had changed. The B's were just 1-for-4 with the man advantage today, including one failed 5-on-3 in the first period. They got a few chances and a late strike from Horton, but for the most part the power play wasn't much of a threat.

The Rest

• Cool to hear TD Garden P.A. guy Jim Martin on the P.A. system at 02 arena in Prague. It was a little strange to hear Martin announce Phoenix goals with such enthusiasm, but must have been a cool experience for Martin. It was also cool to hear each team's goal horn and song played after a goal. Not something you hear at your usual hockey game.
• The Czech crowd seemed pretty into the game, and even seemed to be pulling for the Bruins at times. A poster on HF Boards who was at the game even reported that some of the Europeans in the crowd started an unconventional (by American standards) "Bos-ton -clap- -clap- -clap" chant. Good to see a foreign crowd getting into the game (and, of course, pulling for the Black and Gold.

Attaboy: Horton. A strong start for a guy who's looking to shrug off accusations of having no heart. Two goals in your first game will go a long way towards impressing your new club.

Providence Shuttle: Seidenberg. Yes, it was his first real game action in quite some time. But the German defenseman looked borderline lost at times out there. Hopefully he regains his '09 form as he gets more games under his belt.