Thornton's third-period winner steals the show for the Bruins

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 11/24/2001

t wasn't exactly Babe Ruth pointing toward the bleachers and calling his shot. Instead, it was meant as good-natured ribbing. The fact it turned out to be prophetic was a giant bonus.

Midway through the second period, when Martin Lapointe was called for an interference penalty, Joe Thornton skated over to Vancouver goalie Dan Cloutier, his former teammate in juniors.

''I went by and said `You're lucky, I'm coming down on you,''' said Thornton.

With 1:12 left in the game, Thornton did just that. Sergei Samsonov chopped a backhand pass from the Bruins' blue line that sprung Thornton on a breakaway. He raced in on Cloutier and wristed a high shot over Cloutier's blocker that gave the Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Canucks at the FleetCenter yesterday. It was Boston's first victory over Vancouver since Oct. 17, 1997, a span of seven games.

And it was the first victory of the season for goaltender John Grahame, who faced 22 shots in his fourth start.

''Sergei is flying right now,'' said Thornton. ''It was a good pass and Cloutier went down a little bit too early and I just put it upstairs on him.''

The last time Thornton and Cloutier played together - on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, a junior team in the Ontario Hockey League - was during the 1995-96 season. Still, Thornton said it didn't hurt to know Cloutier's tendencies.

''If you've played with him in the past, you kind of know his strengths and weaknesses, and I haven't played with him in so long,'' said Thornton. ''He's gotten a lot better but I happen to be one-up on him right now.''

The ending for the Bruins was a whole lot better than the beginning.

Neither team came out very strong. The early going was as sloppy as it was sluggish.

The Canucks took a 1-0 lead on their first shot, at 5:14 of the first period. Center Trevor Linden, who was dealt back to the Canucks from the Washington Capitals Nov. 10, took a pass from right wing Herbert Vasiljevs and beat Grahame to the short side with a shot from the left circle.

Lapointe tied it at 3:51 of the second, converting a backhanded centering pass from Samsonov for his seventh goal of the year.

Play picked up dramatically on both sides in the final period with odd-man rushes by each teams.

Vancouver went back on top at 2:50, just seven seconds after a power play expired.

Center Brendan Morrison jammed a wraparound at the right post, but with two defenders trying to keep it out, along with Grahame, Morrison kept at it and the puck crossed the goal line to make it 2-1.

Brian Rolston pulled the Bruins even again at 5:01 when he scored on his own rebound for his 10th goal.

Things got a little hairy at 6:48 when Bill Guerin and Cloutier got into a battle in front of the Vancouver crease. Guerin was cut in the forehead and had to leave the game briefly. He needed several stitches.

''He slashed me and I kind of pushed him back,'' said Guerin. ''The next thing you know, I've got a blocker in my face, but that's fine.''

Grahame left the crease to defend his teammate, skating all the way to the Vancouver end. When the penalties were sorted out, the Canucks had a power play, which became a five-on-three 1:01 later when Grahame was called for delay of game.

The Bruins killed it off as they did all five of the Canucks' power plays, and that set the stage for Thornton's heroics.

''We've played some really good games and some not-so-good games,'' said Guerin, acknowledging this one was no work of art. ''But I think we're definitely headed in the right direction.''

This story ran on page G1 of the Boston Globe on 11/24/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.