[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 2/12/2002

ENVER - They looked like a tired, run-down team at the beginning of the game, and that ultimately proved true at the end as well, as the Bruins fell to the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2, at the Pepsi Center last night.

The loss was the first in seven games (5-1-1-0) for the Bruins, who play in Vancouver tonight before breaking for the Olympics.

The Avalanche won their first home game since Jan. 21 after losing four straight.

''We weren't as prepared as we had to be,'' said Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek. ''And we made some mental mistakes, and they put them in. They played well and worked the whole game through and they beat us.

''It's unfortunate, but now we go up to Vancouver and move on.''

The first period bore a striking - and not flattering - resemblance to Jan. 23, when the Bruins came out slowly against the Rangers in New York. That performance turned into an 8-4 loss.

The Bruins were beaten in all facets of the game in the first 20 minutes. They were just killed on faceoffs, winning six and losing 15.

But unlike the New York blowout - in which they actually had scoring chances in the opening period - they had only one good bid against the Avalanche. A slapper by Brian Rolston got through Patrick Roy but was swept away before it went over the goal line. It was one of only three Boston shots in the period, to 10 for Colorado.

By the first intermission, the Bruins had dug themselves a deep hole at 3-0.

The Avalanche scored just 1:31 in. Eric Messier, positioned along the right boards, dished the puck back to defenseman Rob Blake, just inside the blue line. Blake teed up a slapper that blew through everything, beating goalie John Grahame to the glove side.

At 11:08, Stephane Yelle made it a two-goal advantage with his fourth of the season. Yelle, skating through the neutral zone up the left side, gained the blue line and moved into the left circle. He faked a slap shot, which fooled rookie defenseman Nick Boynton into dropping, and Yelle stepped around him and tucked a backhander between the pads of Grahame.

Colorado's Joe Sakic boosted it to 3-0 with his 19th strike of the year. Alex Tanguay dished a pass to Radim Vrbata in the slot. Grahame stopped Vrbata's shot, but the puck bounced back to Tanguay and he fed a charging Sakic.

The Bruins did their best to climb back into it in the middle period.

At 2:19, Sergei Samsonov took a pass from Glen Murray and wristed a shot on net from the left circle. Samsonov got next to nothing on the shot, which knuckled toward the net. It hit the left post and then trickled along the goal line. Roy fired it out with his blocker hand, and initially referee Kevin Pollock waved it off. However, video review showed that the puck did in fact make it over the goal line.

P.J. Axelsson pulled Boston within a goal at 10:39. Rob Zamuner, in the right circle, threaded a pass through the defense, and Axelsson redirected it past Roy to make it 3-2.

However, the comeback was set back when Colorado scored again at 12:10, only seconds after Bill Guerin's bid at a vacated net was denied by the backchecking of defenseman Adam Foote.

''He just didn't give up,'' said Guerin. ''It should have been a goal. I should have buried it. But you've got to give him credit for coming back like he did.''

At the Avalanche end, Sakic dished a pass to Tanguay, whose shot was stopped by Grahame. But Vrbata potted the rebound, and the deficit was again two goals.

Dan Hinote closed it out when he scored on his own rebound at 16:25 of the third period, sending the Bruins off to Vancouver on a sour note.

''They were really buzzing in the first period,'' said Grahame. ''They're a good team and they came out firing. We dug ourselves too big a hole to get back in the game. It's tough when you go down, 3-0, in the first period.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 2/12/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.