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BRUINS 3, RANGERS 2 Two in third put them just 2 back [ Game summary ]
The media queries in the Boston dressing room revolved largely around the return of Ray Bourque to Boston, but there was an undercurrent of desperation surrounding the Bruins' grim playoff situation.
After Carolina's 3-1 loss in Buffalo Saturday evening and the Bruins' 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers last night at Madison Square Garden, everyone was breathing easier.
Boston is now within 2 points of the idle Hurricanes, who play host to the Montreal Canadiens tonight.
''It's been a very emotional couple of weeks,'' said goaltender Byron Dafoe, who had 21 saves. ''Just the way we win a game and Carolina wins a game, so you come in the next day and you're flat because you don't feel like you gained any ground. A night like Saturday happens when we play well enough to win and we didn't, but, fortunately, Carolina loses so we feel better about ourselves. Now, we come away with 2 points and the pressure is back on them.''
The difference in last night's game was a 57-second span in the third period when the Bruins scored twice. Bill Guerin broke a 1-1 deadlock at 6:39 when he scored his 38th goal of the season. Guerin took a pass from Kyle McLaren and skated beneath the left circle. He chipped the puck at the net and it glanced off Tomas Kloucek's stick and under the crossbar behind goaltender Guy Hebert.
P.J. Axelsson made it 3-1 when he cashed in on a rebound of a Dixon Ward shot at 7:36.
The Rangers pulled within 3-2 at 14:36 on a shorthanded goal by Brian Leetch. He skated the puck up the left side and attempted a pass across the slot, but it caromed off the left skate of defenseman Jarno Kultanen and was redirected past Dafoe for Leetch's 20th goal of the year.
The first period was not a very favorable one for the Bruins. After the Rangers were embarrassed Saturday in a 6-0 home loss to Detroit, they came out with something to prove. Coach Ron Low questioned their professionalism and felt some of his players quit against the Red Wings. The Rangers were hitting the Bruins all over the ice (36-15 in New York's favor).
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead at 17:51 of the first on a goal by Jan Hlavac. It was the Rangers' first goal in three games.
''We didn't have a very good first period, which shouldn't happen,'' said Boston's Jason Allison. ''We knew they'd come out [hard] and there was too much waiting by us. We were almost playing scared to lose and that's definitely the wrong approach. Sometimes, subconsciously it happens, and we have to find a way to correct it.''
In the second, the Bruins tied it on the power play, taking advantage of the NHL's worst penalty-killing team.
Joe Thornton, assisted by Allison and Guerin, did the honors, potting his 33d of the season at the 25-second mark.
The goal marked the ninth game out of the last 10 Boston has scored at least once on the man advantage and it has 14 power-play goals in its last 10 contests.
The second was extremely chippy with both teams' tempers flaring.
Rangers defenseman Dale Purinton squared off with Bruins enforcer Andrei Nazarov in a fight, which jump-started Boston.
The Bruins picked up steam as the game wore on and that led to their third-period rally, which erased any emotional hangover from Saturday.
''You could tell we were emotionally drained and not mentally happy about the way things came out,'' said Dafoe of the Avalanche game. ''It was good to get back on the road and play right away. Now we're on a high again and we have to carry this into Toronto and Ottawa.''
Allison thinks the Bruins are in pretty good shape for the shape they're in.
''We're pretty much facing elimination every night,'' he said. ''Not quite, but you don't want to get down 6 [points] with seven games to play. You'd be in big trouble if you did. We've been getting the job done for the most part. We've had one loss in our last six games [3-1-2]. We're winning and the ones we're not winning, we're finding a way to tie.
''Carolina has been winning, too, so we have to keep winning and wait until they start losing. This team seems to not do anything the easy way. It seems like we haven't had any easy wins this year. We have to be desperate every night.''
This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 3/26/2001.
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EW YORK - When the Bruins were packing their bags at the FleetCenter after their loss to Colorado Saturday afternoon, it was impossible to hide the tension.