They win in overtime and gain playoff berth

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 3/25/2002

AMPA - When the Bruins were doing their scoreboard watching down the stretch last season, their eyes were always on Carolina. Their fingers were crossed for the Hurricanes to lose, which meant there would be an opening for them to sneak into the final playoff spot in the East. But Carolina wound up with it by a point and Boston missed the postseason for the second year in a row.

Last night, the Bruins ensured they wouldn't be left out of the dance this spring. With Washington losing to Pittsburgh and the Bruins beating Tampa Bay in overtime, 4-3, the club now knows it is playoff-bound. The only mystery is where it will finish and whom it will encounter in the opening matchup.

''That was kind of a foregone conclusion so we didn't even [think] about it,'' said goaltender Byron Dafoe, who earned the victory with 27 saves. ''It's nice and all, but we have a bigger race on our hands and that's for first overall. It's a fun time of year. Every game is important for us, but it's also important to watch what the other teams are doing. We're playing very good hockey right now and that's what you want.''

The Bruins have won five games in a row, and eight of their last nine.

They didn't start out very well last night. They got behind by a pair of goals at the 7:13 mark of the first period. From there, though, they assumed control of the next period and a half before penalty trouble allowed the Lightning to get back into it. Then, Bill Guerin scored his 36th goal of the season with 24.5 seconds left in overtime to seal it. The goal came as a result of hard work by P.J. Axelsson.

''We were battling along the boards and I actually made a poor choice of plays,'' said Guerin. ''Axy bailed me out by coming over and hitting the guy. Being able to dig the puck out from underneath, he just laid a perfect pass right on my stick and I went five-hole. Axy is a guy who's never going to hurt you, he can only help. He's a smart hockey player, he makes good decisions, and when there's a play to be made, he can make it.''

Being on the ice in OT wasn't exactly where you'd normally see Axelsson, the wiry winger who is known more for his defensive play and penalty killing than his offense.

''It might have been Axy's first shift out there this year in overtime, maybe he had one other one,'' said coach Robbie Ftorek. ''I told him, `Axy, find Billy.' It was pretty good, I loved it. Axy plays with people and he finds them. It was kind of sweet, and then Billy obviously buried it.''

Just 2:07 in, Vincent Lecavalier, the player rumored to be traded most often at the deadline never to actually change teams, scored his first goal since Feb. 7 (a span of 11 games) to give the Lightning the lead.

Lecavalier, shooting from just inside the blue line, fired the puck between the legs of defenseman Sean O'Donnell and beat Dafoe over the glove.

Tampa Bay made it 2-0 at 7:13 on the first of two goals by Vaclav Prospal. Boston began turning the tables, though, generating the last eight shots of the period on the way to pulling within 2-1.

With 37.5 seconds remaining, Brian Rolston skated the puck down the right circle. He dropped a pass back for Glen Murray, who snapped a shot over the glove of Nikolai Khabibulin. It was Murray's 33d goal of the year and fourth in five games.

In the middle period, the Bruins rallied to tie the game at 5:10 on defenseman Don Sweeney's second of the year. Less than three minutes later, the Bruins picked up their first lead of the contest when Martin Lapointe tallied his 16th of the year at 7:54.

The Lightning pulled even at 11:04. Ben Clymer, positioned behind the Tampa net, passed to Prospal in front. Dafoe stopped the first bid but couldn't stop the second one and it was tied at 3.

For the Bruins, it was a hairy third period because of penalties. But they weathered the storm in regulation before cashing in in OT.

Now they know they're in the playoffs, but no one is celebrating anything yet.

''That's great,'' said Rolston. ''I think that's exciting, but we're expecting to do much better than that.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 3/25/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.