[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 2/13/2002

ANCOUVER, British Columbia - Glen Murray scored with 2:57 left in overtime, lifting the Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks last night.

It was the second goal of the game for Murray, who has 27 heading into the Olympic break.

The 2 points for the win, coupled with a Philadelphia loss, have the Bruins going into the recess tied with the Flyers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 75 points.

The Bruins were able to regroup after a disappointing loss to Colorado a night earlier, and they did so against a hot team. Vancouver had a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) snapped by Calgary Saturday.

Going into the break with this kind of win, said Joe Thornton, ''is huge. For a confidence-booster, it's big. We're going to get all the bumps and bruises healed. And for your mental reasons, it's big going back and being at the top of the East.

''That's something to say for this team - we're a good team this year.''

The Bruins took a scant 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes, and the Canucks tied it with less than six minutes remaining in regulation.

At 3:07 of the first period, the Canucks came calling with a two-on-one break. Artem Chubarov dished a backhand pass from the right circle to Trevor Letowski in the left, but Byron Dafoe blocked the shot with his body.

That save set the stage for Boston's goal less than a minute later. Jozef Stumpel, playing his fourth game in his fourth city in four nights, dished a centering pass to Murray, who beat Peter Skudra with his 26th tally of the season.

Dafoe made some good saves later in the period. After a turnover by the Bruins, Brendan Morrison ripped a slapper that Dafoe gloved at 9:21. Only nine seconds later, Markus Naslund teed up a slapper that Dafoe turned back.

The second period went back and forth, with neither team able to dent the other.

The closest the Canucks came to tying the game was at 14:39 during a power play. It was Naslund again, but Dafoe denied him.

At 9:01 of the third, the Bruins were awarded a four-minute power play when Don Sweeney was cut in the mouth by the high stick of Jarkko Ruutu. They couldn't get anything past Skudra. With six seconds remaining on the man advantage, Thornton was called for roughing, and that turned the tide in the Canucks' favor.

With only 5:24 remaining in regulation, Vancouver pulled even when it took advantage of the ill-advised penalty.

Jan Hlavac, deep down in the left side, relayed the puck to Bryan Helmer at the left point. Helmer dished it to Ed Jovanovski at the right point, and Jovanovski smacked a one-timer that was redirected by big left wing Todd Bertuzzi into the net.

With 4:43 remaining in regulation, the Bruins had a chance to go back out front with their sixth power play of the game; Matt Cooke was sent to the box for interfering with Sergei Samsonov. But, for the sixth straight time, they failed to convert.

Bertuzzi's goal sent the Bruins into overtime for the 19th time this season, in 59 games.

''It was a pretty good game - it was up and down,'' said Dafoe (24 saves). ''There were some good chances at both ends. We let 'em back into it with a penalty late, but then we made up for it in overtime.

''Like I've said, it's a lot of fun when you win 'em in overtime, and this was no exception.''

This story ran on page 2, CANUCKS 1 of the Boston Globe on 2/13/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.