[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 1/29/2002

he matchup was one of similar teams. It pitted one of the top clubs in the Eastern Conference against one of the best in the West. In some ways, Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek said, watching the Chicago Blackhawks last night was like watching his own club.

The contest was fairly even, although Chicago carried the play more often than the home team. The difference came with 21.1 seconds left in regulation, when winger Bill Guerin buried a feed from center Jozef Stumpel to lift the Bruins to a 2-1 victory at the FleetCenter.

''We were hoping it was kind of like watching us,'' said Ftorek. ''They did a real nice job clogging things up. They did a nice job in the offensive zone creating things. They did a good job on the transition. The goaltender [Jocelyn Thibault] made some big saves.

''I felt they had a little bit more of the play than we did. In those types of games, you have to battle along the boards, battle in the corners, and then your big people have to make things happen. And Stumps made a heck of a play and Billy finished it off. They had chances to do the same thing and [Byron Dafoe] made some big saves. It was very much the type of game we felt it would be.''

For the fans, though, it wasn't much to write home about from an entertainment standpoint. The ice was soft and pucks were bouncing all over the rink. Much of the play was in the neutral zone. But the Bruins said all that mattered was the victory. It's 2 more points, in Game 53, with one more contest until the All-Star break.

''Tonight was just one of those games you had to grind out to the end,'' said center Brian Rolston. ''Maybe we were being too respectful, but they play tight through the neutral zone and it was hard to get through.

''It was tough because the puck was bouncing so much. It was tough to make plays, and I don't think we chipped it when we had chances, to try to get it behind their defense and go after it. Byron was unbelievable again tonight and we got a timely goal, obviously, at the end.

''We kept fighting and we got the win and that's what is important.''

Despite the tough sledding early, the Bruins took a 1-0 lead during a power play at 3:45 of the first period. Stumpel, positioned behind the net to the left of Thibault, threaded a centering pass past defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev to right wing Glen Murray, who rapped it into the net for his 23d goal of the season.

The Blackhawks rallied to tie it at 13:08, scoring just one second after a power play had expired. After the Bruins were unable to clear the zone, defenseman Phil Housley (who turns 38 March 9), poked the puck from the point down to center Kyle Calder on the right side. Dafoe stopped Calder's shot, but forward Michael Nylander was there for the rebound to pull Chicago even.

For much of the second period, there was little excitement. The Blackhawks outshot Boston, 8-4, but scoring chances were few and far between.

The biggest reaction from the fans came when a fan held up a sign that read, ''Pats are Super Bowl bound,'' and it was picked up on the Jumbotron. There were Tom Brady shirts and Drew Bledsoe shirts and all kinds of Patriots memorabilia in the stands.

Late in the third period, though, the fans wound up with plenty to cheer about that had nothing to do with football.

Stumpel skated the puck through the right circle, and when he got down into the deepest part of the circle, he fired the puck behind him to Guerin, who was coming in from the left side.

Guerin beat Thibault from the slot for his 26th goal of the season at 19:38 and the victory was assured.

''Stumpy's a heck of a player,'' said Guerin. ''He's big, he's strong, he's got good vision, and he can pass the puck. He made a heck of a play to Muzz [Murray] and to me. He was the big difference in the game.''

This story ran on page F1 of the Boston Globe on 1/29/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.