Grahame, Bruins look lost as Wild find they have all answers

[ Game summary ]

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 10/12/2002

T. PAUL - First night, fright night.

Their game full of holes, spotty on defense, and lacking an emotional get up and go, the Bruins took a pratfall across the threshold of a new NHL season last night, smacked with a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild.

''They were up, 3-0, before we knew it,'' lamented Bruins winger Glen Murray, noting the preparedness and determination of the Minnesotans. ''No excuses. It was our first game, too, and we should be ready ... there are no excuses for not being ready.''

Former Bruins Wes Walz and Sergei Zholtok each scored for the Wild, who posted their three-goal lead by 16:40 of the first period and went on to minimize all chances of a Boston comeback by their patented slow-down/takeaway tactics in the neutral zone under head coach, and trappist wonk, Jacques Lemaire. The NHL is out to restrict holding and hooking this year, but the trap lives, when executed the Lemaire way - via smart checking and dogged puck pursuit.

The middle of the ice grew increasingly difficult for the Bruins to navigate as the Wild rolled up the goals on No. 1 wannabe John Grahame in net. They popped in the 1-0 lead at 11:35 of the first when Richard Park connected on a power play. A little more than three minutes later, Walz bumped it to 2-0 when he cashed in a cross-slot Bill Muckalt feed. And left with a big, fat, juicy rebound off a Filip Kuba shot with 3:20 left in the period, Andrew Brunette roofed a wrister to make it 3-0.

Three goals. Five shots. Elapsed time: 5:05. Under Lemaire's stingy defensive strangle, the game summary was all but e-mailed to the NHL's New York headquarters.

''Not really how we want to start,'' said a disappointed Marty Lapointe. ''We've got 81 games left, so ... hockey's a game of mistakes, and we had our share tonight. I think we were ready, but we were a little too anxious. When that happens, you try to do too much, and that creates turnovers. It was turnovers that cost us the game.''

Not to mention a noticeable lack of intensity. Kicked out of the first round of last spring's playoffs, after leading the East's regular-season standings, the expected reaction would have been to come into 2002-03 looking for some, shall we say, retribution. Instead, the team that faded prematurely from the '01-02 playoffs showed all the signs of fading prematurely once more. The Bruins made key miscues in their own end, and even chopped up their own power play in the third when Jim Dowd connected on a shorthander.

In net, Grahame gave up five goals on 20 shots. He didn't have the greatest of support, for sure. But a .750 save percentage is no way to stake a claim for No. 1 status. It didn't send general manager Mike O'Connell racing out of the building to trade for a netminder - in part because Steve Shields no doubt will get a chance Monday night in Denver - but it also couldn't have instilled much confidence throughout the organization.

''It didn't seem we were executing as well as we could,'' said Grahame. Asked about the fourth and fifth goals, both of which appeared to be clear slappers, he added, ''There was a screen on the fourth [a Zholtok slapper], but the fifth [Dowd] was totally my fault.''

Meanwhile, Boston's above-average bunch of forwards (even with Bill Guerin livin' the good life in Dallas) showed little pop or presence. Rare was the time when they managed to maintain puck control deep in the offensive end. Their forecheck, something that should improve in the no-hold NHL this season, was anything put productive. They finished with 27 shots, but no more than, say, a half-dozen strong scoring chances. Mike Knuble popped in the Bruins' only goal, with help from Sean Brown and Rob Zamuner, cutting back the Minnesota lead to 3-1 early in the third. But rather than build on that strike, they watched Zholtok nail in his long-range slapper some eight minutes later to make it 4-1.

''We started off really well, and then made a few mistakes,'' said coach Robbie Ftorek. ''A couple of giveways, some point assignments missed ... ''

Ftorek was anything but critical with regard to Grahame, but it's a virtual certainty he will turn now to Shields. Ftorek has to hope he can find dependable backstopping between the two of them, or his club could be tucked deep into the Eastern cellar by Thanksgiving. If last night had been played on Causeway Street, no doubt the frustrated Bruins faithful would have booed long and hard over each goal past Grahame. Fair? Of course not. But that wouldn't have stopped the fans from chanting ''Da-foe ... Da-foe ... Da-foe'' when the score jumped to 3-0, 4-1, 5-1. Thirty years past the last Stanley Cup, fairness and good will fell out of the equation long ago.

''Colorado on Monday night,'' mulled Murray. ''It doesn't get any easier.''

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 10/12/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.