[ Game summary ]

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 11/8/2002

ETROIT - Overtime losses really only count in the playoffs, much the same way cheating on taxes only really counts after April 15. In April, May, or June a shot like the one Sergei Fedorov unloaded here last night with 2:52 remaining in overtime would have left the Bruins feeling busted flatter than flat in Hockey Town.

Instead, happy with their point and happier still with much of their overall performance, the Bruins took quiet solace in their 2-1 OT loss here to the Red Wings. They played well in long stretches, came within 10 minutes of winning it in regulation, and in the end chiseled a point off of the defending Stanley Cup champions.

''A good shot by a pretty good player,'' said Boston netminder John Grahame, back in net for the first time in three weeks after overcoming a shoulder injury. ''I tried to come out and close off one side, but he kind of blew it by me on the other - I have to be aware of that.''

Truth was, it might have taken a 24-square-foot patch of inch- thick kryptonite to stop Fedorov's blistering winning shot. Caught running around in their own end during the four-on-four overtime, just a minute after Brian Rolston nearly won it at the other end, the Bruins watched a charging Fedorov unload one of his patented slappers off a relay from Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

''We played a really good game,'' said Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek, his squad now 7-2-2-1 through 12 games. ''We had a lot of opportunities in the first period that we weren't able to put in ... a hard-fought game ... put those chances in early, and maybe it's a much different night.''

Over the first 20 minutes, the Bruins piled up a 14-4 shot advantage. Manny Legace, spelling a flu-ridden Curtis Joseph in the Detroit net, turned aside 4-5 excellent chances in the first, when Boston's only real fault was its inability to finish off good chances over two power plays.

In the second, the momentum flipped drastically, the Winged Wheels commanding a 14-3 shot lead. But still, no goals for either side. Everything Legace did in the first, Grahame did in the second. By the time the second period ended, the Wings had gone 111 minutes 19 seconds without a goal, including the 60 minutes they didn't score in a recent 2-0 loss to the Blackhawks. The packed house of 20,058 inside the Joe was wondering what happened to all those goals that helped the Wings put away their third Cup in six years only some five months ago.

''It's an important point, and we acknowledge it,'' said Boston blue-liner Don Sweeney. ''On the other hand, it's a disappointing situation not to win, especially after how well we came out in the first. The penalties began to mount up against us, and it's a feeling that things you can't necessarily control begin to take over.''

To wit: The Bruins were forced to kill no fewer than five penalties in the second period, and ended up killing 6 of 7 on the night. The worst of the shorthanded struggles came in a 53-second stretch of the second when the Wings skated a five-on-three advantage. All those minutes chasing Detroit's skilled shooters sapped all the momentum out of the Northeast Divison-leading Bruins.

Nonetheless, after the Wings failed to cash in with all their power plays, the Bruins finally scored the night's first goal when Joe Thornton jumped on a Mathieu Dandenault error and cashed it in for the 1-0 lead with 5:16 gone in the third. Backing into his own zone, but still some 45 feet from his own net, the butter-fingered Dandenault lost the puck to Thornton and watched as the Bruins captain raced in to beat Legace with his fifth goal of the season.

''I had a lot of speed,'' explained Jumbo Joe, Dandenault flat-footed after coughing up the biscuit. ''We wanted the win, obviously, but that's a great team over there, and they play very well at home. An awesome game, I thought.''

Awesome turned to awe-shucks later in the third, though, when Lidstrom, the two-time Norris Trophy winner, polished off a give-and-go with a doorstep slap on a power play at 10:17, setting the stage for OT.

Just a minute before Fedorov hammered home the crusher, Rolston was left with a top-of-the-crease backhander that could have won it.

''I had it on the backhand and I was waiting, waiting, waiting,'' explained Rolston, tied with Glen Murray and Thornton for the team lead in goals. ''But Legace played right with me, and it kind of rolled off of my stick. It's frustrating, because I thought we played well as a team. That's a top team in the NHL, and I felt we could have beaten them - should have beaten them.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 11/8/2002.
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