Flyers' slow start ‘might have been jitters'

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BOSTON – When you think about the kind of team the Flyers have, one thing you don’t think about Craig Berube’s team is them being skittish.

Or being so nervous with the puck that they don’t react.

Yet that is what transpired early in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Bruins at TD Garden in both team’s season opener (see game recap).

“We didn’t execute. The first two periods, it was like we were scared making plays,” said team captain Claude Giroux, who had no shots through 40 minutes and just one the entire game.

“I don’t know about the other guys, but I would get the puck and not get the confidence to make the play. You need to relax and play the game. We’ll obviously look at some video.”

Berube said the Bruins' tight checking probably had something to do with that.

“It could be,” he said. “The Bruins are a very good checking team in the neutral zone. They’re a very good defensive team. They check well in the neutral zone. But we didn’t skate and move the puck like we can through the neutral zone. Might have been jitters. I don't know."

The Flyers didn't get their skating legs in full motion until the second period. By the third, they had caught up to the Bruins in terms of matching their movement.

“When guys don't skate, it's a little sign of nervousness,” Berube said. “When guys don't move their feet ... there was times when we had the puck and they just stood there instead of skating.”

Despite their many shortcomings through two periods, they were within 1:51 of getting the game into overtime and earning a point when the Bruins won on Chris Kelly's fluke goal.

“We had some momentum and let it slip away,” Berube said. “We can play better.”

The game winner
Adam McQuaid’s stick exploded and Kelly was right there to deposit the puck when it fluttered into the air, off goalie Steve Mason.

“It was obviously right-place, right-time,” Kelly said. “I thought we played well; we had some pretty good chances. He's a big goalie and I think it's important to get some traffic in front of him and it paid off.”

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