ASHINGTON - The Bruins entered last night's game against the Washington Capitals with their sights set on a few crucial objectives.
First, they wanted to avenge a home-and-home sweep at the hands of the Capitals Dec. 1 and 2. Second, they wanted to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since Oct. 9 and 11. Third, and most important, they wanted to put a solid run together to move up in the standings and establish themselves as a playoff contender.
They didn't accomplish exactly what they hoped for but they did salvage a point with a late tally in the third period as they played to a 1-1 tie at the MCI Center.
Boston goalie Byron Dafoe (29 saves) and Washington netminder Olaf Kolzig (30) did yeomen's duty.
Boston hasn't won two in a row in three months but it has picked up at least a point in eight of the last nine contests (4-1-3-1). The team believes that constitutes a pretty fair rally.
''I honestly feel we're on a run right now,'' said Dafoe. ''Ties aren't pretty but they're still giving you points, even overtime losses. But you look at the amount of outright losses we've had and there aren't too many in the last 10 games. We have to be happy with that. I know the media is going to keep harping until we finally win two games in a row and that's justified, but we can't get discouraged, because we are playing well.''
For the most part, it was a see-saw game, with the Capitals owning the first period, the Bruins owning the second, and the teams splitting the third.
''It seemed like both teams dominated at times,'' said Dafoe. ''Them in the first; we totally carried the second period; they came out hard at the start of the third; and we [were better] at the end.''
The Bruins looked slow and out of synch in the early going and managed only five shots in the opening period to the Capitals' 11.
Washington scored its goal on a power-play strike by Chris Simon. With Shawn Bates off for obstruction holding, Peter Bondra gained the blue line in the Bruins' zone and dropped a pass at the left point for Simon, who skated into the left circle and rifled a shot that deflected off defenseman Kyle McLaren and beat Dafoe over his glove arm.
''It was going one way and I think it hit the back of his heel,'' said Dafoe. ''It ended up going high glove. It just threw me off because I was going one way and all of a sudden it went the other.''
The Capitals could have had more were it not for the work of Dafoe, who has rounded into midseason form since recovering from swelling and pain in his right knee that sidelined him for 11 games.
The Bruins turned the tables and executed better in the middle period, outshooting the Capitals, 15-4, but once again, they couldn't finish.
P.J. Axelsson, who had three shots in the period and a game-high seven, tested Kolzig with a backhander at 1:57 with Boston shorthanded, but Kolzig denied him.
With the Bruins on their third power play a few minutes later, Joe Thornton tried jamming it through Kolzig's legs, but the netminder blocked it with his stick.
Bill Guerin had a couple of good chances but couldn't get anything past Kolzig.
At 7:44, Dafoe pokechecked the puck away from the Capitals to give the Bruins a three-on-two break. Jason Allison dished a pass to Guerin in the right circle, but the puck bounced away from Guerin, breaking up the bid.
At 12:37, Guerin tried to bang a shot past Kolzig at the left post, but Kolzig stopped it.
Another decent opportunity came at 14:15 when Mike Knuble took a shot from point-blank range, but Kolzig saw it all the way.
After a dominating second, the Bruins had trouble getting anything going early in the third, but they tied the game with 2:39 left in regulation as McLaren's shot from the point made its way through traffic and past Kolzig.
''It was big,'' said McLaren. ''We needed a point or a win. We battled hard. No matter how you get the points, as long as you get them. We're sticking in there in the playoff race and that's what we need to do.''
