Eight count: Bruins' run comes to an end

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 11/1/2002

ou knew it was coming, didn't you? The Bruins had played so many good games and were on such a roll, it had to end sometime.

Their eight-game unbeaten streak came to a crashing halt at the FleetCenter last night as they lost to the struggling Anaheim Mighty Ducks, 4-1. The Bruins (6-0-2 during the stretch) suffered only their second defeat and their first at home before 9,491, the smallest crowd in FleetCenter history, and the smallest Bruins crowd since 7,012 braved a Jan. 22, 1987 blizzard.

Boston had no answer for former University of Maine star Paul Kariya, who figured in all four goals (hat trick and an assist).

This contest was the ultimate dud, but one play turned out to be a microcosm of the evening. At 12:27 of the second period, Bruins goaltender Steve Shields went to play the puck. With little room to maneuver, he turned behind the net and tried to fire it from right to left on his backhand.

Kariya, who was whacking at Shields's stick as he chased the goalie around the cage, grabbed the puck when Shields fell down and backhanded a centering pass to Matt Cullen. Cullen fired the puck into the empty net for the first of three unanswered Anaheim goals.

The Bruins had no energy, no execution, and were out of synch. But the Cullen goal, which turned out to be the winner, was the most painful part of the evening.

''That happens to me, like, once every three years,'' said Shields. ''I never do that but tonight was a night that it happened. I could've made a better play with the puck and not put myself in a position to fall down. It was unfortunate it happened. It's a bad play by me to put myself in that position. He really didn't do anything to get the puck, I basically fell and pushed it right onto his stick. I couldn't have helped him more.''

Brian Rolston tried to direct Shields to steer the puck to the opposite corner, but the goalie said he didn't have time to go to his forehand.

''Rollie wanted the puck the other way and I should've just chipped it over there, I just made a bad mistake,'' said Shields. ''He pointed to me, we made eye contact. He was breaking off to go to the close corner there [on the right side] and I didn't give it to him. That's my responsibility to put the puck in that corner. I take responsibility for that goal. I didn't feel I could get it on my forehand in time so I turned around and I was between Paul and the net. I slid and I caught an edge on my skate and fell and just pushed the puck ahead right onto Paul's stick.''

The first period was scoreless as Boston outshot Anaheim, 12-6. Kariya scored his first goal during a power play at 6:05 of the second. The lead lasted just 23 seconds as Jozef Stumpel pulled the Bruins even with his fourth tally of the year.

Then it was all Ducks. Kariya followed Cullen's goal with his second of the game at 15:24, scored at even strength. He capped off the hat trick during the club's second five-on-three advantage of the third period with 2.3 seconds left.

Shields, who made 19 stops to 26 by Jean-Sebastien Giguere, said the loss didn't hurt any more because it was his former team.

''I don't like to lose, period,'' he said. ''I don't like to lose to teams below us, especially. But that's the way it is. We're going to lose games like this. I'm not going to play great every night. Some nights we're going to win when I don't play great and some nights it's going to be the difference. All I can do is come to work tomorrow.''

Shields got little or no help from his teammates. The power play was 0 for 7 and it was actually worse than that statistic indicates.

''We were off tonight,'' said Rolston. ''Our power play was awful. When you have power plays like that, you have to bear down and get the job done. We definitely didn't have the jump tonight. You hate to lose at home, it's brutal.''

As for the small crowd, ''After that effort, I probably would've been home with my son, too, and out trick-or-treating,'' Rolston said. ''But it's one of those games where we have to bounce back and we will.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 11/1/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.