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HURRICANES 5, BRUINS 4 [ Game summary ]
RALEIGH, N.C. - For all the playoff atmosphere it was supposed to generate, and all the implications it held in the standings, the Bruins-Hurricanes matchup yesterday didn't turn into the classic concoction of midwinter skate, shoot, and pass.
Both sides chopped up the puck. Both sides fumbled in all three zones. And both sides would have been far better served by stronger netminding and more physical play along the boards. Out of that swirl of mediocrity and inconsistency, the 'Canes walked out of their Entertainment and Sports Arena with a 5-4 victory over the Bruins.
The defeat whittled Boston's hold on a playoff berth to a point over the Hurricanes - a point that this morning looks as thin as a page of the daily reader in your hands.
''This was really a great opportunity to see from behind the bench - from a coaching perspective - who could play in this kind of game,'' said Bruins head man Mike Keenan, whose club lost its second straight. ''I was surprised how many of them couldn't bring their `A' game to the arena.''
Not good enough. Overall, and mincing no words, that was Keenan's point. In the scrum for the No. 8 playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, his Bruins had an opportunity to open up a 5-point lead over the 'Canes. It didn't happen. In fact, the Bruins never took the lead all afternoon, and twice handed the advantage back to the 'Canes after battling back from deficits of 0-2 and 2-3. A game that could have been their breakaway moment in 2000-01 turned into a flat-out stall.
''Either they haven't learned,'' said Keenan, asked about his club's lack of consistency, especially its failure to carry offensive momentum from line to line, ''or they won't learn, or can't, or maybe they're not good enough to learn. It could be any of those, I guess.''
A dash of perspective: There have been far darker days in Bruins history over the last, oh, 3-4 years. There was the bottom-of-the-tank finish in '96-97. There was last year's Farewell to Ray Bourque tour. A loss here to the forgotten orphans of the Forever .500s (see Hartford in your AAA Guide) should not trigger despair in Bruins Country. The biggest concern was how little snap, crackle, and pop could be found in Boston's game other than when Mssrs. Bill Guerin, Jason Allison, and Sergei Samsonov were on the ice.
''Those three,'' said Keenan, ''were our best players - by a country mile.''
Allison and Guerin scored the goals late in the second period that negated earlier strikes by Shane Willis (first star) and Jeff O'Neill. Midway through the third, ex-Flyer Rod Brind'Amour connected for the 3-2 lead with a short-range shot that was intended to be a pass, the puck eluding John Grahame, who made his first start of the season in the Boston net.
Then, when Brian Rolston potted the 3-3 equalizer with 4:36 remaining in regulation, Josef Vasicek delivered the 4-3 (lights-out) lead, veteran Don Sweeney falling backward low in the zone as he attempted to bust up the play with a poke check. Had the puck-carrier been erased, the deadlock would have stood.
''We made some mistakes, and they got lucky,'' said Allison, the game's true standout performer. ''And, hey, they made some mistakes that we should have done more with. In fact, they made more mistakes, but we didn't score with them.''
With Grahame out of net for an extra attacker, Marek Malik whistled a shot almost the length of the ice for a 5-3 lead with 55 seconds to go. Kyle McLaren trimmed it to 5-4 with a long, weak backhander (more of those might have upended 'Canes goalie Arturs Irbe), but a loss on the ensuing faceoff (aptly, no carryover of momentum) ended it.
''It felt like a playoff hockey game,'' said Rolston, whose goal was No. 11 of the season. ''But there were times, like when it was 3-3, we still played hard - but just not smart.''
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