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BRUINS 4, MIGHTY DUCKS 2 [ Game summary ]
There will be nights, perhaps in late November against an expansion team, when motivation is a problem. But on this night - with Ray Bourque the marquee attraction - victory seemed just so assured.
The Bruins' 4-2 decision over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks marked the first opening night win for the team since 1997-98, when they edged the Los Angeles Kings.
There's no doubt this club is hungrier. After not playing for almost exactly six months - April 7 being the final game before the long summer - the Bruins emerged from the layoff with a jump in their step.
They got a goal - their first of the 2001-02 campaign - from a 22-year-old defenseman when Nick Boynton tallied the first of his NHL career at 5:38, just seconds after a Boston power play expired.
The Ducks pulled even early in the second on a goal by left wing Jeff Friesen. Goaltender Byron Dafoe put the puck up the right boards and headed back to his net. Anaheim right wing Marty McInnis collected it and dished it to center Matt Cullen. Cullen made a terrific touch pass over to Friesen in the right circle, and he banked it off the post and past Dafoe at 1:46.
At 7:59, the Bruins and the crowd got an emotional lift from a bone-crushing hit by right wing Bill Guerin on former Bruin Kevin Sawyer in front of goalie Steve Shields. The netminder didn't appreciate the check, and he let Guerin know it, leading to a Boston power play when Shields was called for roughing.
"That was a pretty big hit," said coach Robbie Ftorek. "Billy had about three nice big hits. Marty had some hits and our defensemen had some hits - Kyle McLaren. Those are important parts of the game. If we can continue to do this and stay out of the penalty box as well, it's going to definitely help our team."
The Bruins' second goal came as result of a heads-up play by left wing Sergei Samsonov. Samsonov, positioned on the left side, held on to the puck for several seconds until he had drawn two Ducks. When he created the mismatch, he dished a backhand pass across the slot to Guerin. It went by Guerin to Thornton, and he beat Shields from the right circle at 9:00.
"I thought it was going to Billy but Billy let it go," said Thornton. "It came to me and I was all alone, just me and the goaltender. It's pretty easy playing with Sergei. All you have to do is go to the net and he'll find you. I love playing with him out there."
The Bruins scored another pair of goals in a span of 1:17, sandwiched around one by Anaheim. At 15:09, Brian Rolston made it a 3-1 game with a highlight-film goal. After picking up a rebound, Rolston skated the puck around in an arc, trying to get Shields to commit. He reached the left goal line, far to Shields's right, and then flipped the puck high into the far side of the cage.
"I lost sight of Rollie when he went out the Zamboni door," joked Ftorek. "I was just looking up in the corner of the net and hoping he was going to have patience, patience, patience, which he did. That's something you don't really teach. You can suggest it, but you either have that or you don't have that. It was really a nice goal. It shows maturity."
The Ducks closed to within 3-2 just 41 seconds later on a goal by left wing Paul Kariya, who is Anaheim's only remaining marquee player after Teemu Selanne was shipped to San Jose last season.
A little more than 30 seconds later, Samsonov picked up his first goal at 16:26. Rob Zamuner tried a wraparound at the right post but Shields was able to stop it. The puck squirted out to Samsonov, whose shot trickled through the goalie to make it 4-2.
The going got rough in the third period as Martin Lapointe showed some of the qualities that guarantee he'll be a fan favorite. Lapointe, who was one of three Bruins wearing the alternate captain's "A" (the others were Don Sweeney and Guerin), upended Anaheim defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky in the Ducks' end. Sawyer took exception and greeted Lapointe up the ice. The two fought and when all was said and done, Lapointe was penalized two minutes for clipping, five for fighting, and a game misconduct.
"It was a hip check," said Lapointe. "I didn't try to hurt the guy or anything like that. I just threw my hip and then Sawyer came after me. I was so tired at the end of the shift. It was a pretty long shift, and the guy wants to fight like that. When you go out there and hit and get your nose dirty, you have to fight sometimes. That's part of the game."
The Ducks failed to score on the power play and the Bruins closed them out. One down, 81 to go. They're a work in progress, and there's a long way to go but Ftorek said it is the start he envisioned.
"It's two points," he said. "You'd better believe it."
This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 10/5/2001.
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hey couldn't lose, could they? The infusion of excitement, the adrenaline rush, the Hall of Famers in attendance. There was just no way the Bruins could not get the job done.