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BRUINS 4, RANGERS 1 They rout NY for 3d in a row [ Game summary ]
They achieved it, finally, Wednesday night in Montreal. But they reached a more incredible milestone with yesterday's 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers at the FleetCenter. It marked the first time since Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 1999 - a span of 111 games - that they earned three consecutive victories in regulation.
Bill Guerin potted goals No. 24 and 25 (the second of which was career No. 200) and little-used forward Mikko Eloranta also scored a pair to lead the Boston attack.
Dafoe, who is playing the way he did two years ago when he was a Vezina Trophy finalist, made 26 saves in his 13th straight start.
''Since I've come back from my knee injury, I've felt pretty good,'' said Dafoe. ''Each day I feel not only health-wise getting stronger but basically getting my game back. In doing so, your confidence gets more [elevated] and the team's confidence in you builds and it's kind of a snowball effect. My confidence is definitely at a level where it should be to be successful. It goes hand in hand with how the team is playing in front of me.''
The Rangers' winless streak is now 11 games, their longest streak of futility since the 1965-66 season.
The game was pretty well all Boston's from the start, which featured one of the flukiest goals of the year only 33 seconds in.
Kyle McLaren gunned the puck into the Rangers' zone and New York's Theo Fleury went after it. Bruins center Jason Allison got in Fleury's way and lifted Fleury's stick, setting the stage for the goal.
Guerin, who entered the contest with no goals in seven games, positioned himself along the right-wing boards and then flung the puck at the net. It struck goaltender Vitali Yeremeyev, then caromed off defenseman Brian Leetch and between the goalie's legs into the net.
Guerin's second of the day came during a power play. Allison, behind the net, waited patiently for an opening and threaded a pass to Guerin in front. Guerin banged it past Yeremeyev for the 2-1 lead at 13:49.
The Rangers pulled within 2-1 only 17 seconds into the middle period. Radek Dvorak got the puck and sprinted down the right side, beating defenseman Hal Gill through the circle. He put the puck between the right post and Dafoe's left toe for the goal.
But that was all New York would get. The next two belonged to Eloranta, who has been a healthy scratch in 10 games this season.
Eloranta scored his first during a shorthanded situation. Brian Rolston won a foot race with Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch behind the net. Rolston tried a wraparound at the left post but the puck pinballed right to Eloranta, who buried his chance at 4:24.
The Rangers tried to climb back in it in the third, with Dafoe being called on to make his greatest save of the day at 3:16. He made an off-balance stop on Fleury's forehander from the right circle and then had to throw himself across the crease to glove the backhand rebound bid by Michael York from the left.
''Obviously I had to move pretty good on that one,'' said Dafoe. ''They definitely didn't roll over. Until we scored the fourth one, I didn't think we had the game necessarily in the bag.''
And in the bag it was, with Eloranta scoring at 7:38.
''Defensively as a team, that's been the key to our success,'' said Dafoe. ''That's what we have to keep preaching.''
And no more mention of any negative streaks?
''[The media] has harped about us not winning two in a row for three months,'' said Dafoe. ''Deservedly so. We hadn't been consistent. But these last three games, everyone has done their job at both ends of the ice. Hopefully, we can win six or seven in a row and we won't have to talk about it ever again.''
This story ran on page C01 of the Boston Globe on 1/14/2001.
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n the not-so-distant past, when the Bruins were laboring unsuccessfully to string together consecutive victories for the first time since October, goalie Byron Dafoe joked that he hoped they'd do it just to quell the persistent reminders that they hadn't done it.