Sabres get the bounces but not a victory

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 2/6/2002

uring the course of a long NHL season, especially one compressed because of the Olympics, the issue of fatigue comes up on occasion. The focus usually is on the players, but sometimes it's the coaches who get drained by the travel and the grind.

Take the case of Bruins bench boss Robbie Ftorek. He left Montreal after a game last Wednesday and went directly to Los Angeles to serve as assistant coach of the North American team for All-Star weekend. From there, he had to fly to Ohio to meet the Bruins in Columbus for their game Monday night. Then he was right back at it last night against the Sabres at the FleetCenter.

Ftorek handed the reins of the club to assistants Jim Hughes and Wayne Cashman last night, and after the Bruins and Sabres battled to a 2-2 tie, Ftorek had Hughes conduct the postgame news conference.

''We went after 2 points and came up with 1,'' said Hughes, whose team went to an extra session for the 18th time in 56 games. ''But the important thing is we're moving up the ladder. We got another point and we continue to widen the gap between our team and the other teams we're competing against.''

The deadlock ended the Bruins' winning streak at four games but extended their unbeaten streak to five and pulled them within 1 point of idle Philadelphia for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Sabres, playing their first game since Jan. 29, took the lead just 24 seconds into the opening period when center Curtis Brown scored on his own rebound.

At 2:45, forward P.J. Stock tried to jumpstart the Bruins when he took on Sabres enforcer Rob Ray. The pair exchanged punches, and Stock clearly got the worst of it. His wave to the crowd, normally a bit of an event in itself, was done with a painful look on his face.

After serving out his five-minute major, Stock went to the bench and then the dressing room. He had a facial injury, the severity of which was not immediately known. Stock was sketchy about what was wrong, saying he will find out more today after X-rays.

The Bruins rallied to tie at 18:14 on a goal by center Jozef Stumpel, who took a backhand cross-ice pass from Bill Guerin.

The Bruins took their only lead early in the middle period on the 24th goal of the season by right wing Glen Murray, set up very well by defenseman Sean O'Donnell. O'Donnell skated the puck down the right side until he encountered defenseman Dmitri Kalinin. O'Donnell then changed direction and pulled up in the far side of the right circle. With Murray heading toward the net from the left circle, O'Donnell dished a pass that Murray rapped past Martin Biron at 1:15.

The Sabres had a tremendous opportunity during a shorthanded situation late in the period. With time ticking down on a Boston power play, the Bruins lost the puck in the offensive zone and the Sabres took off with a two-on-none break.

With center Tim Connolly trying to feed Erik Rasmussen, Bruins center Brian Rolston did a tremendous backchecking job and broke up the play.

''I was fresh, so that was the good thing,'' said Rolston.

The Sabres didn't tie it then, but they did with 4:30 gone in the third period on a bounce that was unfortunate for the Bruins. Defenseman Rhett Warrener, at the right point, threw the puck at the net. It hit center Joe Thornton, then glanced off the skate of defenseman Gord Murphy and past Byron Dafoe to make it 2-2.

''I was basically establishing position there off my post,'' said Murphy. ''I kind of had my head on a swivel looking around for a guy coming to the net. I saw him take the shot but it got deflected out high. It was one of those where I didn't really have time to react.

''It's a real unfortunate bounce and nobody feels worse about it than I do.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 2/6/2002.
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