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SENATORS 2, BRUINS 1 Boston ties game at :26 - then loses it at :14 [ Game summary ]
The Bruins took one more step in their 82-game regular-season odyssey of the bizarre last night, coming within seconds of pulling out a point with Bill Guerin's first goal in a Boston uniform, and then watching it vanish when Daniel Alfredsson's strike with 14 seconds to go in regulation handed the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory.
''I'll tell you, that's a tough one to swallow,'' said a subdued Byron Dafoe, after watching Alexei Yashin walk out of the left corner and partner with Alfredsson for the crushing goal. ''I thought we did a good job tonight of eliminating odd-man rushes, playing better. But those last 25 seconds ... it's like we're almost there, but we're not there, not yet. We just aren't getting the job done.''
The carnage on the road now reads 2-8-0. In a season quickly turning into a lottery pick (take it away, Edmonton), the Bruins reached the season's one-quarter mark with a 6-10-2-2 slate.
''What can I say?'' said Dafoe, who played well despite a recurrence (uh-oh?) of his knee problems. ''I'm speechless.''
The final minute saw the Bruins pull Dafoe in favor of an extra skater, leading Guerin to provide the equalizer, 1-1, with only 26 seconds remaining in regulation. The Bruins were that close to
Dafoe's knee is acting up again. Notebook, D3.
walking out of Corel Center (attendance: 17,260) proud and confident after taking a point from the Northeast Division leaders.
With some of the hometown crowd's boos still echoing after Guerin's goal, the powerful Yashin came storming out of the corner to Dafoe's right. He muscled his way through the Boston defense, snapped a short-range shot on Dafoe, and then it was left to the crafty and skilled Alfredsson to knock the loose puck by Dafoe. Only 12 seconds after Guerin's goal, it was in the net, and the Bruins were on the bus. Losers again.
''No question we played better, but that's not good enough,'' said veteran backliner Don Sweeney, who logged just under 21 minutes after being benched for a good portion of Saturday's humiliating 6-1 loss to the expansion Minnesota Wild. ''But is close OK? No way. We had chances to score. We played better, defensively. But it's still not good enough.''
The Senators took a 1-0 lead with just under a minute left in the second period when Bruins short-timer Shawn McEachern potted a Wade Redden rebound on the power play. Swapped here by Boston for the long-forgotten Trent McCleary (3 goals in a Bruins uniform), McEachern made it 99 goals since joining Ottawa four-plus seasons ago.
For the most part, the Bruins played a much stronger, far more disciplined game than some of their recent forays (best described as air-raid drills on skates). They did a much better job picking up their checks and showed flashes of moving the puck out of their end with authority.
''Guys still have to bear down more, and I think if we do that, we'll score some goals,'' said Joe Thornton, denied on two shots of his own. ''Overall, I think guys took some honor in their defensive game, and that kept the puck out of our net. We weren't running around as much.''
In short, some positive signs in a very negative season. Newcomers Andrei Nazarov (elevated to the No. 1 line, subbing for Sergei Samsonov late in the game) and Patrick Traverse looked like respectable additions. Dafoe was sharp, and his defense didn't leave him standing like a cake out in the rain, melting in MacArthur Park.
But in the end, looking like boxers happy to have extended the bout to 15 rounds, they got caught by a roundhouse right.
''Obviously, the outcome wasn't what we wanted, but we played better,'' said disconsolate captain Jason Allison, all three of his shots cut down by Patrick Lalime. ''It's frustrating. We've got to find a way to get it done.''
This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on 11/22/2000.
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ANATA, Ontario - Creative would be one word for it. Crushing would be another. Demoralizing would fit, too.