BOSTON -- Brian Rolston and Mike Mottau are happy that this one's over with.
Two of the three newest Bruins played on Tuesday night at the TD Garden against the Ottawa Senators, after arriving Tuesday morning.
Rolston played 8:21 while centering a line with Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron, while Mottau played 10:49 on a defensive unit with Adam McQuaid.
The Bruins lost 1-0. Neither were on the ice for the lone goal of the game. So they got that going for them.
But even if they were, Tuesday night was nothing more than a feeling out process for two players trying to adjust to a new system with new teammates.
"It's good to get that one behind me, for sure," said Rolston after the loss. "You have a little nerves, especially coming in. But I think Mottau and I both got that one behind us and we'll move on and be better next game."
"It was a great feeling pulling the jersey on, going out there for warm-ups," said Mottau. "Playing in the first one, it's good to get the first one out of the way."
Bruins coach Claude Julien is more anxious to work with the two players at practice on Wednesday, while acknowledging that it's awfully tough to judge their game in this type of situation, after being traded at the deadline on Monday afternoon.
"They showed up this morning, and I certainly didn't expect miracles out of those guys," said Julien after the loss. "Again, it's always hard to judge those guys, because the guys around them didn't do very well. Rolston and Mottau didn't look bad, but they probably looked even better if we would have been better around them."
Both Rolston and Mottau said they feel good, physically. Now, it's just trying to get the system down, which Rolston admitted, shouldn't be a problem, especially if he stays at center.
"I played center tonight, which I haven't played in a while, so that's another little bit of an adjustment that I have to make," said Rolston. "But I've played long enough where I've played center a lot of years. And it will just take me a game or two to feel a little more sharp there."
Tuesday marked Mottau's first game as a Bruin. Rolston can't say the same. And his return to Boston brought out plenty of emotions as he received an ovation from the crowd at the TD Garden.
"It was great. I'm very happy to be here," said Rolston after the game. "Obviously I got a warm reception from the crowd, which means a lot to me. It was a lot of fun. And like I said, I had my legs under me a little bit. I hadn't skated in a couple days. So it will be good to get another practice in, and start feeling a little more comfortable.
"Your emotions, you're thinking about all those things all day, pretty much. And it almost kind of exhausts you at times. But like I said, this day, I'm glad it's behind us. Now we can move on and be a little bit more comfortable on the ice."