|
 |
| |||
 | |||
|
| | |
STARS 5, BRUINS 4 Strong start lost against Dallas [ Game summary ]
The Bruins picked up a point, precious at this time of the season, and moved on to St. Louis, where they will take on the Blues tonight in another quest to aid their playoff position.
''We came up with a good point and the effort for the most part was there,'' said coach Mike Keenan. ''We had a couple of breakdowns, and one was on the overtime goal. But we had a better effort, there's no question about it, than we've had in the last few games.''
It was a hard-fought effort by the Bruins but it was a very odd game, harkening back to the beginning of the year when referees were told to call everything. In fact, the total of 18 power plays whistled by Bernard Degrace and Tim Peel was one shy of the league mark this season, set on opening night (Dallas-Colorado).
The winning goal came on a disappointing effort by Boston. It was set up by left wing Brenden Morrow (two goals), who skated the puck up the left side and dished a pass across to Joe Nieuwendyk, who guided it on his backhand past goalie Peter Skudra.
Defenseman Peter Popovic, who was beaten by Nieuwendyk, was distraught over his mistake. ''I thought [Morrow] was going to go himself,'' said the veteran. ''Twice, I was going forward but we turned it over and I had to turn around and go back. So I think I screwed up on my timing a little bit. [Kyle McLaren] had a long shift and he got caught out there.
''When the play happened, I thought the guy was going to shoot himself, so I went back in the middle. And all of a sudden, Nieuwendyk was in front of me like out of nowhere, so I kind of lost him. Morrow threw a really hard pass across and [Nieuwendyk] tipped it in with his backhand. It was a nice play, but I should've had him. I'm [ticked] off. I should've had the guy. That's definitely my fault, and it hurts.''
The Bruins got off to a terrific start, taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Their first goal came at 1:59 when forward Mike Knuble scored his first in 28 games. Knuble, whose last tally came Dec. 19 against Philadelphia, got the puck from Brian Rolston and beat goalie Ed Belfour from the right circle.
After the Bruins killed off a 5 on 3 that lasted a minute, McLaren gave them a 2-0 lead with 5.1 seconds remaining in the period. With Boston on its fourth power play, McLaren blasted a shot from the point that beat Belfour. The Stars cut the lead in half early in the second period on the first of Morrow's goals. The Bruins had tried to clear the puck, but defenseman Richard Matvichuk was able to keep it in at the right point. He fired a shot that Skudra saved, but Morrow was there at the left post to backhand in the rebound at 1:27.
Dallas pulled even when sniper Brett Hull took advantage of a 4 on 3 to score his 29th of the season at 9:04.
At the 15-second mark of the third, Darryl Sydor gave the Stars their first lead, 3-2. Morrow made it a two-goal lead at 3:53. He got the puck in his end, skated it through center and into the Boston zone. Facing a 1 on 3, Morrow found room to take the shot anyway and it sailed by Skudra.
But the Bruins chipped away and got one back just over a minute later when Bill Guerin picked up his 32d of the season, converting a Joe Thornton backhand centering pass.
Thornton made it a 4-4 game at 10:11 with Boston's second power-play tally of the night. Guerin had the initial shot from the slot, which Belfour stopped. But the netminder flung the puck directly to Thornton in the left circle, and he roofed the rebound into the top right corner of the net.
It was on to overtime.
It was a loss for the Bruins, but they were able to salvage a point and their pride after Wednesday's nightmare in Denver.
''I think everybody was hungry and ready at the start of the game,'' said Popovic. ''We didn't want to have a Colorado game again.''
This story ran on page 01 of the Boston Globe on 2/24/2001.
|
ALLAS - If you didn't know what was at stake, you'd have thought last night's matchup between the Bruins and Dallas Stars was an exhibition contest. In a game that had no flow and 18 power plays, Boston rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period, only to lose 1 minute into overtime, 5-4, at Reunion Arena.