[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 11/3/2002

he gash in his chin, closed by a dozen stitches, was still angry looking and raw after the game and blood coated the sutures.

But nothing could keep Bryan Berard from smiling. Broadly.

Berard completed the Bruins' furious three-goal, third-period rally last night when he scored with 38.8 seconds remaining in regulation to lift Boston over the New York Rangers, 3-2, at the FleetCenter. It marked a week to the day that the Bruins capped another win in the final half-minute of a game - when Brian Rolston scored against Atlanta.

Berard, who was cut by the stick of Petr Nedved early in the second period, wristed a shot from the left point that deflected off Rangers right wing Pavel Bure and into the net past goalie Dan Blackburn.

The final 20 minutes could not have been more different than the first 40. In the opening two periods, the Bruins were sloppy and turned the puck over so many times it was hard to count. Even Berard, who had several of them, said the team was trying to force too much.

''In between the second and third, [coach Robbie Ftorek] came in and said, `Even when we're coming over the blue line or getting to the line, let's really start firing pucks on net and go for rebounds, and if worse comes to worst, we can get a whistle and try a faceoff play,''' said Berard. ''And we did.''

They had to survive the first two periods to get there.

On their first power play of the game, which came at 5:57 of the first, the Bruins couldn't even set up their offense and managed zero shots during the two minutes forward Krzysztof Oliwa was in the penalty box.

At 13:12, the Rangers had a great scoring chance when Matthew Barnaby dished a pass to Eric Lindros at the blue line. Lindros started to charge down the slot and teed up a slapper, but Bruins defenseman Nick Boynton, who was in pursuit, extended his stick and deflected the puck away.

''Somehow I probably got caught out of position,'' said Boynton with a laugh. ''I was just trying to save my butt. I didn't want to let him get the shot off. I didn't know who it was until I got there and then got up. He was winding up from pretty close in. Sometimes if they're going to shoot it from out far enough, you let them take the shot because you don't want to get in the way [of the goalie seeing it]. When you've got a guy like that shooting from there, it could be trouble. If it's coming 100 miles an hour, it's tough for [a goalie] to pick it up and make the stop.''

The Bruins had a second power play that started at the 19-minute mark but it turned ugly when the Rangers turned it into a shorthanded goal and 1-0 lead with only 18 seconds left.

With defenseman Darius Kasparaitis in the box, the Bruins turned the puck over and the Rangers took off on a three-on-two. With only Berard and Rolston back, defenseman Tom Poti dished a pass from the right circle to Rem Murray on the left and he beat Steve Shields to break the ice.

Another miscue in their own zone led to the Rangers' second goal at 7:04. With the puck bouncing around inside the blue line, Hal Gill fanned on a clearing attempt. Joe Thornton couldn't get to it, but Ranger veteran Mark Messier did. He skated down the right circle and wristed it by Shields, doubling the lead.

The contest turned on a dime early in the third period. As out of whack as the Bruins looked in the first 40 minutes, they came out completely different in the third. The comeback started when Lindros, who has committed numerous bad penalties this season, was whistled for a blatant trip on Rob Zamuner at 1:36.

Just 24 seconds later, Boston cashed in. Rolston teed up a slapper from the left point that broke his stick. The puck pinballed off several bodies in front and landed in front of Thornton, who was parked on the inside edge of the right circle. The Boston captain rammed it home at the two-minute mark, cutting the New York lead in half.

The fourth line came up big just over two minutes later to combine on the tying goal.

Center P.J. Stock, a former Ranger, sent a rink-wide dish to Michal Grosek in the left circle. Grosek backhanded a pass over to Sean Brown in the slot.

Brown, a converted forward, backhanded a shot that Blackburn got a piece of, but Brown pounced on the rebound and put it in at 4:13, pulling the Bruins even.

''I was just kind of curling in the neutral zone,'' said Brown, who now has 13 career goals. ''I was going to the net and Grosek had the puck wide, and the two defensemen kind of went to him and he threw a nice pass over and I was just trying to get it on net. He made the save and I was kind of going by the net and just happened to see it there and gave it a little whack.''

Then, Berard's heroics sealed it and he said it was a little sweeter that it came at the expense of his old team.

''A little bit,'' he said. ''It was nice to score one at the end. The biggest thing is we go down two goals and we come into the third period and get a win. I think that's big.''

This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 11/3/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.