Stumpel injured in loss to Leafs

[ Game summary ]

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 11/20/2002

ORONTO - Injuries eating away at the edges of their skate-and-shoot game, the Bruins last night saw their five-game undefeated streak come to an end in a 2-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs before a crowd of 19,355 at the Air Canada Centre. They also lost second-line center Jozef Stumpel to a wrist injury that kept the talented Slovak pivot from playing in the final 20 minutes.

Already without forwards Sergei Samsonov (wrist), Mike Knuble (concussion), and P.J. Axelsson (knee), the Bruins had defenseman Jonathan Girard working the wing against the lackluster Leafs. If Stumpel is sidelined for a while, it could mean summoning a center or wing from the AHL affiliate in Providence.

''We're playing hard,'' said coach Robbie Ftorek. ''When you're playing hard, you're gonna get guys hurt.''

Stumpel sprained his wrist when he was pushed into the boards by Nik Antropov with seven minutes left in the second period.

''He pushed me from the back after the whistle into the boards,'' said Stumpel. ''It's a sprain, I don't know how bad. I tried to tape it. Nothing really worked.''

After collecting 25 points in their first 16 games, the Bruins now have 26 points after going 0-1-1 in their last two - the first time this season they have gone back-to-back games without a win.

The Leafs broke a scoreless deadlock only 89 seconds into the third period when Mikael Renberg caught a gust of wind over the blue line and raced in virtually alone on left wing. Closing within five feet of Boston goalie Steve Shields, Renberg shoveled off a simple forehander that appeared to hit Shields in the midsection before dropping between his pads for the score.

The Bruins, who didn't have their best skating legs in Saturday's tie at Philadelphia, fell behind, 2-0, at 4:46 when Paul Healey collected a drop pass from Tomas Kaberle and nailed home a 35-foot wrister on a power play. Michal Grosek was in the penalty box for cross-checking.

The subtext to Game No. 18 on the season was the addition of 2001 first-round pick Shaone Morrisonn to the Boston lineup.

Rather than call up a forward from Providence, the Bruins instead summoned defenseman Morrisonn, a first-year pro who impressed management in his last two September training camps. Morrisonn, who won't turn 20 years old until next month, was paired most of the time with Nick Boynton.

''Mo can play, no question,'' said Ftorek. ''He played the way I expected him to play.''

The Bruins had a slight shot lead over the opening 40 minutes, 18-14. Neither Shields nor the Leafs' Eddie Belfour had what could be deemed a heavy workload.

The Bruins entered the evening with their power play blistering in ways reminiscent of the Big Bad Bruins days. Over their 4-0-1 undefeated streak, they were 10 for 26 on the advantage, for a whopping 38.5 percent success rate. They also had killed 22 of 24 power plays for an extremely effective 91.7 percent kill rate. Coaches add power-play success and penalty-kill success hoping to exceed 100 percent; in that regard, the Bruins were a sizzling 130.2 over the five games.

But the numbers weren't as impressive inside the Air Canada Centre. The Bruins failed to score on three advantages in the first two periods, ex-Bruin Richard (now Ric) Jackman tagged with two of those minors. The other Toronto transgression (roughing) was charged to Antropov.

The Boston penalty killers kept up their end of the bargain, however, erasing minors to Bryan Berard (tripping) and Glen Murray (hooking).

Morrisonn's addition meant that Girard moved up to left wing on the No. 1 line with Joe Thornton and Murray. If he stays up there, it will be his first regular duty at forward since his youth hockey days in Quebec.

''Every time I got a new coach since those years, the coach would try me at forward,'' said Girard. ''But after one game, I was usually back at defense. I like it up there. It's OK, and I'll do anything to help the team, of course. But I love to play defense. It's my position.''

A slight surprise in the Leafs' lineup: Star winger Alex Mogilny was a game-time scratch. The highly skilled Russian suffered a neck burner (nerve trauma) in a recent game against the Red Wings and has struggled in practice with a limited range of motion.

This story ran on page F1 of the Boston Globe on 11/20/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.