[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 11/7/2001

or the first three games of the season, the Bruins looked as if they would be an offensive juggernaut as well as strong defensively. The club averaged four goals a contest and it certainly appeared Boston had enough talent to keep it up.

Over the last three weeks, that has changed. The Bruins have been outstanding defensively but goal-starved. The Bruins have been opportunistic, but hardly have scored in abundance.

Last night was no exception. Forward Brian Rolston snapped a shot from the high slot past Oilers goaltender Tommy Salo with 59 seconds gone in overtime to lift the Bruins to a 1-0 victory over Edmonton at the FleetCenter. It marked the fourth consecutive home game that has gone to an extra session, a franchise record.

In fact, seven of the last 10 Bruins games have gone to overtime, including four of the last five. Coach Robbie Ftorek said he's happy his team can compete so well in a tight game but it was a little tighter than he would've liked.

''Tonight was nice because Edmonton's the highest-scoring team in the league, or at least they were going into the game,'' said Ftorek. ''To minimize their chances and be able to shut them down as far as not being able to score is a really good feeling for the players.

''On the other end of the coin, we want to be able to score goals. We did have some chances, but really we didn't shoot the puck well enough. Finally, Rollie put his head down and was trying to hit the longest drive and boom, it was in the net.''

The goal ended Salo's shutout streak at 144 minutes 15 seconds.

At the other end, Byron Dafoe was outstanding, making 20 saves for his 24th career regular-season shutout. It was the fifth time in his career that he has played in a game that finished scoreless in regulation.

Rolston, who has been one of the most productive forwards for Boston but has lost ice time since Glen Murray and Jozef Stumpel arrived via trade from Los Angeles, got the puck from Sergei Samsonov, deked down a defenseman, and then fired the puck past Salo.

''I made a pretty good shot,'' said Rolston. ''I'm just trying to get it on the net there and it goes off the post and in. I thought we played hard tonight. I thought we did a great job against them. We didn't finish but we got the 2 points.''

Dafoe said he's not overly concerned about his team's lack of offense, which has produced only 17 goals in the last 10 games - the same number they've given up.

''It doesn't matter, as long as we win hockey games we can score one goal all the time, that's fine,'' said Dafoe. ''My job is to give our team a chance to win. I thought we outplayed them tonight, we couldn't get a goal. Just by keeping them off the board, it gave us a chance and Rollie came up with a huge play in the overtime to win it.''

Ftorek said if there's a concern, it's that he'd like for more offense from his blue liners. Of the 32 goals the Bruins have scored, only one has come from the defense, and that was by Nick Boynton on opening night.

''We'd really like for one of our defense to develop a little bit more offensively on the power play,'' said Ftorek. ''That's probably the area where we're most, not concerned, but we'd like someone to step up. Jamie Rivers was doing a little bit of that tonight but unfortunately he left early [because of penalty trouble]. We'll pursue that again next game maybe.''

Last night didn't produce a great many chances for either team. Both goaltenders seemed to see nearly all the shots that came their way, even during Edmonton's four power plays in the second, including a five-on-three that lasted for the final 10 seconds in the second and 1:31 into the third. But the Bruins, who are the league leaders in penalty killing, fended it off.

Before Rolston's heroics, one of Boston's best chances came during the power play at 4:28 of the third. With left wing Ethan Moreau off for holding, Murray got the puck, skated it into the left circle, and fired a quick wrister on Salo. The shot caromed off the goalie's glove and popped into the air. Salo lost sight of it for a second but then recovered.

Despite their offensive malaise, Dafoe said what has helped the Bruins is that they're not pressing to score.

''If we were losing these games, 2-1, all the time, that would be a different story,'' said Dafoe. ''We'd have to change our format. The fact that we are coming out on top, or at least getting points, it says it's working. People around Boston probably want us to score more goals, we want to score more goals, but as long as we're getting points, we're going to keep doing what we've been doing.

''We've got enough guys who can put the puck in the net and why it's not going in, I don't know. The fact is, we are winning games and that's the team's main focus. Our big guns have been getting the goals, but just when we need it, as opposed to all the time.''

This story ran on page F1 of the Boston Globe on 11/7/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.