Samsonov wins it at the last second

[ Game summary ]

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 10/15/2002

ENVER - The opening pages of Chapter Two in the Bruins' 2002-03 season read very much like Chapter One. But what unfolded last night at the Pepsi Center turned into a real page-turner, better by the minute, and the ending packed the surprise punch and plot twist of a bestseller.

With only half a second left in regulation, and the Bruins on a power play, Sergei Samsonov ripped into a Joe Thornton pass and drove home a 20-foot slapper for a 2-1 win over the highly talented Colorado Avalanche.

''I didn't know it was that close to the end of the game,'' said a smiling Samsonov, his lightning shot past Patrick Roy's glove side handing the Bruins their first win of the season. ''But I had an idea that it was pretty close.''

After looking edgy and sometimes lifeless and disoriented in their 5-1 season-opening loss in Minnesota Friday, the Bruins responded with 60 minutes in which they seemed to gain confidence in five-minute segments. They fell behind on a fluke goal past John Grahame early in the first period, knotted it on a Martin Lapointe power-play strike in the second, and kept mounting shots (a 37-25 advantage), enabling them to pull out an impressive victory over one of the best clubs in the National Hockey League.

''One of the better games we've played, I think, since I got here,'' said Brian Rolston, whom the Avalanche dealt to the Bruins for Ray Bourque a couple of years ago. ''It's really nice to bounce back after that disappointing loss the other night. We all felt we were a better team than we showed in the opener.''

Somewhat surprisingly, Bruins coach Robbie Ftorek chose to bring Grahame back in net after the No. 1 wannabe's rocky start in Minnesota. Conventional wisdom might have leaned toward Ftorek opting for Steve Shields, who was out West for four years (three with San Jose, one with Anaheim) prior to his trade over the summer to Boston.

But Grahame rewarded Ftorek's confidence with his best performance in a Boston uniform, surviving the 55-foot flutterball that Martin Skoula popped over him with seven minutes gone in the first period. For the remaining 53, Grahame turned back the 22 other shots the Avalanche could muster, winning for the first time in his hometown.

''It's a great feeling,'' said a beaming Grahame, who truly needed a strong performance here for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the Bruins have to find out quickly whether they must trade for a front-line netminder. ''That's one of the best wins of my short career so far. Everyone played well for the whole 60 minutes.

Ftorek, who made some slight revisions among his forward lines (hello, P.J. Stock), said his decision-making process took into account that this is Grahame's hometown. The goalie's father, ex-Bruin netminder Ron Grahame, is an athletic administrator at the Univesity of Denver. His mother works in the Avalanche front office. His brother is a senior defenseman at the University of Denver.

''It came into play,'' said Ftorek.

In Friday's opener against the Wild, Grahame gave up five goals, two of which were long-range slappers that NHL goalies are expected to pocket. Another one, giving the Wild a 3-0 lead in the first period, came after Grahame left a juicy rebound on the doorstep for Andrew Brunette.

Nonetheless, Ftorek that night, and again over the weekend, expressed confidence in Grahame. Never one to criticize his players in public anyway, Ftorek spoke in general about mental mistakes the club made in all three zones. Perhaps underscoring his concern for those lapses, Ftorek put his squad through a lengthy on-ice session Sunday and later in the day called everyone together at the club hotel for a videotape session.

''What it showed is that we don't have to run around so much in our defensive zone,'' said team captain Joe Thornton. ''The idea is to keep it simple. When we do that, we are more effective. We have to cut down on our mistakes, be smarter back there.''

Against the Avalanche, they did a much better, smarter job in their own end. When the Avalanche did land shots on Grahame, the defense was quick to cover loose pucks or move them to the wings for good transitions up the ice.

''Regardless of whether we won or lost, we had a really good game,'' said Ftorek. ''That's what matters most. We worked the whole 60 minutes, and that's what we were striving for. We knew we could play better than we did the other night.''

Making it even sweeter for Grahame: He was able to triumph over Roy, the winningest goalie in the game's history.

''You've definitely got to be on top of your game,'' said Grahame. ''You go into it knowing that you can't make any mistakes, because he doesn't. You have to be better than he is that night, and that's not easy.''

This story ran on page F1 of the Boston Globe on 10/15/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.