Bruins' shutout earns playoff tie

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 3/29/2001

ORONTO - All tied up.

After a couple of weeks of treading water, the Bruins finally caught the Carolina Hurricanes last night with an impressive 3-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Hurricanes were trounced by the host Washington Capitals, 7-0, whom they play again tomorrow night in Raleigh, N.C.

There wasn't a single penalty called in the Bruins-Maple Leafs contest, the first penalty-free NHL game since last April 9 in a contest between the Red Wings and Avalanche.

''It was a hard-fought battle,'' said coach Mike Keenan. ''It's 2 great points for us. We played hard from start to finish and it paid off for us.''

Bruins goaltender Byron Dafoe earned his 22d career shutout and second of the season - both against the Leafs.

''I guess way back when I started, I always loved coming into Maple Leaf Gardens and loved playing the Leafs,'' said Dafoe, who improved his career mark against Toronto to 12-3-3 and is 3-0-0 this year with two shutouts.

''I think sometimes as a goalie you get a couple of teams you do well against and, for some reason, you get psyched up even more whenever you play them because you want to improve on your career record against them. ''

As the final minutes ticked off in the second period, the most astonishing figure on the Air Canada Centre scoreboard wasn't that the Bruins were leading the Leafs, 1-0. What caught most people's eyes was how badly the Hurricanes were getting smoked. But the Bruins, who admitted they were scoreboard watching, were far from giddy. They were concentrating on the business at hand.

Center Joe Thornton gave Boston the lead 1 minute 13 seconds into the second as he potted his 34th of the season. Forward Mikko Eloranta set up Thornton with a pass and the 21-year-old rapped his own rebound past goalie Curtis Joseph. Struggling right wing Andrei Kovalenko also picked up an assist on the score, giving him his first point in six games.

In the third period, the Bruins' defense got a scare just 46 seconds in, as defenseman Don Sweeney left with a left knee injury. He went to the dressing room, but returned later for a time. He will be evaluated today.

The Bruins picked up an insurance goal at 5:54 when Brian Rolston potted his 18th of the year. Dixon Ward charged the net and, when he switched from his forehand to his backhand, Joseph came out and blocked Ward's bid. The puck squirted away and Rolston banged it into the net to make it 2-0. It was the 12th point in the last 11 games for Rolston, who has six goals and six assists in that span.

Bill Guerin potted his 39th of the season with 3:36 left to close it out.

With the win, the Bruins are at least putting themselves in a position to make it to the postseason.

''We've got six games to get the job done and that's what our objective is, certainly,'' said Keenan. ''The mathematics. or the arithmetic. is what we're looking at and we can only do what we did tonight, and that's pick up 2 points.''

It helps when Dafoe (24 saves) is perfect. ''No matter what, every game I have to get up for,'' said Dafoe. ''If we're going to win this and get in the playoffs, I have to bring my `A' game every night and give us a chance to win.''

This story ran on page 01 of the Boston Globe on 3/29/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.