Old nemesis sticks it to Bruins once again

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 12/7/2001

t doesn't seem to matter what uniform he's wearing or what kind of season he's having. It doesn't matter if his hair is short or long. It doesn't matter if he's 25 or 35.

When Stephane Richer plays the Bruins, somehow, some way, the puck ends up in the Boston net. He was a Bruin killer when he played for the Canadiens as a youngster. He was a Bruin killer when he played for the New Jersey Devils, and last night, the seasoned veteran was a Bruin killer in a Penguins uniform.

Richer potted two goals and had an assist as Pittsburgh knocked off Boston at the FleetCenter, 4-1. It ended the Bruins' home-winning streak at five games and their unbeaten streak against Pittsburgh at seven (5-0-2).

''He's obviously been a goal scorer throughout the years and somehow he found it again tonight,'' said goaltender Byron Dafoe.

Dafoe wasn't happy with Richer's second goal, at 12:13 of the third, which gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead. It came as a result of a crazy bounce off the glass that confused Dafoe.

''It was kind of a cheesy goal for him ... I wouldn't call it a goal scorer's goal, but he is a goal scorer, so we'll give it to him,'' said Dafoe, shaking his head. ''I think I kind of misjudged it coming off the back boards and got caught there. I was having a tough time all night at that end. The few they threw around the glass took some really funny bounces.

''I don't know if they just took the stage down or what, but that glass was awful. There were two that almost went in the net on their own. But if it was 3-1 or 4-1, what's the difference?''

Early on, it looked as if the Bruins were going to win in a romp.

They dominated the first period, outshooting the Penguins, 12-3, and took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal at 16:30 by Martin Lapointe.

With defenseman Darius Kasparaitis off for boarding Scott Pellerin, the Bruins pressured the Penguins and were able to take advantage of a fortuitous bounce. Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Moran tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but Jozef Stumpel blocked it. The puck squirted to Lapointe, who backhanded a shot past Johan Hedberg. It was the first power-play goal in the last 34 chances for Boston. It was Lapointe's eighth goal and his first in six games.

The trouble started for Boston at 14:26 of the second, and it proved to be the beginning of the end as Richer tallied his first of the night.

Center Milan Kraft tried a wraparound at the right post. It pinballed off defenseman Andrew Ference over to Richer, who beat Dafoe for his seventh goal of the year.

Kraft put the Penguins up, 2-1, with 1:02 left in the second, assisted by Richer. Aleksey Morozov centered a backhand pass in front to Kraft, and he beat Dafoe.

At 12:13 of the third, Richer struck again, and Jan Hrdina closed it out with an empty-net goal with 57.7 seconds left.

''They've got a lot of skill on that team, and down low, they really had us puck watching a bit at times,'' said Dafoe. ''That kind of resulted in them getting two goals. I think we were ready to play this game. We dominated the first period and we were up a goal. We didn't sit back in the second at all. I'm sure their coach had a few things to say to them and they came out and played a lot better in the second and had a lead going into the third.

''Any time you lose, it's disappointing. But you're not going to win every game. A couple of nice plays by them in the second period gives them the win. Maybe if we get one of those back it's a different story and we go 1-1 into the third.

''We can't dwell on it.''

Coach Robbie Ftorek said it was a difficult end to a good start, not only to the game, but to the day.

''For the niceness of the day, it's a terrible evening,'' said Ftorek. ''It's a game we probably could've won. I guess all coaches say that. We just weren't as sharp as we could've been and unfortunately we lost.''

This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 12/7/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.