[ Game summary ]

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 11/18/2001

here has been far more woe than flow in the Bruins' offense this season, but last night the scoring Rivers flooded over the banks along Causeway Street.

Specifically, the offensive reservoir was Jamie Rivers, a journeyman turned one-night (maybe more?) wonder. He paced the Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Sabres at the FleetCenteer. The 26-year-old defenseman/part-time winger scored a career-high two goals and showed flashes of puck-carrying acumen, which helped the Bruins win their third in a row - matching their season high.

''I don't know if you can bank your career on one night,'' said Rivers, who pulled on a black-and-gold sweater just over a month ago after being picked up on waivers. ''And I'm not going to do that. All I want to do is keep playing smart.''

The Hub of Hockey is nothing if not the land of opportunity. On a night when the Bruins lost their No. 1 scorer, Joe Thornton, to a nasty case of ill temper, Rivers stepped up and was counted (two goals, four shots). The Bruins finished their six-game homestand with a 4-2 record, solidifying their position in the thick of the playoff hunt with a quarter of the season officially in the books.

Along the way, the Bruins lost the services of key defenseman Kyle McLaren once more. Only recently back after tearing a pectoral muscle, McLaren was hit in the right knee by a shot, exited the bench late in the second period, and did not return to the game. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for X-rays.

''I don't think it's a fracture,'' said coach Robbie Ftorek. ''It looks like it's only a bruise, from a puck that he took off the knee, and I don't know if it was the outside or the inside of the knee. Hopefully, it's not serious.''

Thornton also was not in the house in the minutes after the victory. Boston's top scorer (eight goals, 14 assists) was tossed for the night with 22 seconds to go in the first period when he hit for the rarest of cycles, four penalties - two minutes for instigating a fight, five for fighting, 10 for a misconduct, and a game misconduct.

All were assessed on Thornton when he teed off on Alexei Zhitnik, the Kiev Krusher (some might say Kreep), who gave Thornton a working over moments before when the two piled into the boards. A shift before that mugging, Sabres forward Slava Kozlov sent Thornton to the bench with a bloody nose, after raking his stick down Thornton's face.

The common thread in both the Zhitnik and Kozlov incidents: Referees Don VanMassenhoven and Brad Watson both suffered whistleus ossificans - no calls. With Zhitnik down at his feet like a poleaxed lamb (who said method acting is dead?), Thornton couldn't resist the temptation to deliver a roundhouse punch to the back of the head, resulting in the grand slam of penalties. Had VanMassenhoven and Watson done their jobs earlier - they also missed a blatant boarding call that had Glen Murray tumbling headlong into the boards - Thornton's vigilante tactics never would have occurred.

Following the game, Ftorek opted not to comment on Thornton's actions, noting that Colin Campbell, the NHL's chief disciplinarian, will have the last word.

Aside from the aggravated antics and the referees' follies, Rivers was the night's undisputed showstopper. He supplied the 1-0 lead with a backhand sweep of a John Emmons feed at 14:11 of the first period. His second goal proved to be the winner. Shifted to left point during a power play, he slammed home a a 55-footer two seconds after the advantage ended, stepping perfectly into a Sergei Samsonov feed off the left-wing halfboard and crushing it John Daly-style.

Buffalo's only goal, a Maxim Afinogenov shovel shot off a Miro Satan rebound, came with the Sabres skating a five-on-three advantage early in the second. Rivers supplied the go-ahead strike only 5:16 later. Bill Guerin knocked in the 3-1 crusher at 17:00 of the second when he rushed the slot and snapped up a tape-to-tape Mike Knuble dish off the left wing.

The effort by Rivers could improve his profile here. Ftorek is desperate to have some offensive impetus supplied from the back line and, goals aside, Rivers showed one or two impressive flashes when he wheeled the puck up from deep in his own end. No one was recalling images of Bobby Orr or Ray Bourque, or even Glen Wesley, but Rivers clearly put himself on Ftorek's radar screen with his performance.

''Yes, he did help himself out,'' said Ftorek. ''Sometimes you're wondering, what are you going to do next? Then a guy steps up and changes the whole process.''

This story ran on page D4 of the Boston Globe on 11/18/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.