They miss chance to secure top seed

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 4/12/2002

TTAWA - Too bad the playoffs didn't start a week ago. If they had, the Bruins would have entered on a high after a win over the Flyers April 2. Since then, observers have been treated to a series of lackluster, mistake-prone, and alarmingly stale performances by coach Robbie Ftorek's team.

Last night's 4-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators at the Corel Centre was the latest dud. The Bruins' winless streak is at five games (0-2-1-2) with one regular-season contest to play.

The worst part of this recent display of dead men walking - hockey style - is that the Bruins had a terrific opportunity to clinch the Eastern Conference crown. All they had to do was win last night.

Boston has one victory in its last seven games. Instead of seizing the chance to go into the weekend with nothing on the line, the Bruins will be looking in their rearview mirror at the Flyers and Maple Leafs, who both have two games remaining. The Bruins lead Toronto by 3 points and Philadelphia by 4. Depending on how those teams fare, tomorrow's finale against the Penguins at the FleetCenter could end up being a must-win in order for the Bruins to finish first.

Both teams snoozed their way through most of the scoreless opening period. One of the few scoring chances for Boston came during a two-on-one shorthanded break. Brian Rolston, who has a club-record nine shorthanded goals this year, raced up the ice with P.J. Axelsson. Before he could get very far, though, Rolston was hauled down from behind by right wing Marian Hossa. But before the penalty to defenseman Don Sweeney expired, which would have put the Bruins on a power play, Marty Lapointe was whistled off for hooking. And that's pretty much the way it went.

Glen Murray, who is two goals shy of 40, had three of Boston's eight shots in the period, one of which was a decent chance that goalie Jani Hurme smothered.

Once again, the Bruins were abysmal on faceoffs in the opening 20 minutes, losing 10 of 17.

The Senators ended the first period on the power play. With 31.2 seconds left, defenseman Sean Brown cross-checked Chris Neil behind the Boston net. That was nullified 13 seconds into the middle period when Bill Muckalt was called for goaltender interference on John Grahame. The Bruins had a few good chances during the four-on-four.

The Senators broke through at 4:31 on a goal by left wing Benoit Brunet. Center Todd White, in the right circle, saw Brunet heading to the net and fired the puck to him as he charged the left post. Brunet tapped it past Grahame and Ottawa was up, 1-0.

The Bruins produced some offensive chances in dribs and drabs, such as Joe Thornton's bid at 6:02 and a good shift midway through the period with P.J. Stock on a line with Rolston and Axelsson. A power play at 12:12 yielded an opportunity for Sergei Samsonov, but nothing was going in.

The Senators threatened with 4:22 left when Hossa dished a backhand pass to Muckalt, who was coming down the right circle. But Grahame got his glove up and stopped it.

With 1:12 left in the second period, center Radek Bonk boosted the Senators' lead to 2-0 when he scored on a wraparound at the right post.

Defenseman Zdeno Chara added to the lead at 15:49 of the third, finishing off a three-on-one break, and Hossa closed out the scoring at 18:29.

This story ran on page 4, BRUINS 0 of the Boston Globe on 4/12/2002.
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