Top line stars; Grahame injured

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 10/17/2002

ANCOUVER, British Columbia - General manager Mike O'Connell thought it would take 10 games to accurately evaluate the Bruins. After a stinker of an opener in Minnesota and a gem of a victory in Colorado, there was plenty of head scratching with regard to which version was the real Bruins team.

The focus became a little clearer last night as Boston rallied from three one-goal deficits to beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3, at the Garage. The top line of Sergei Samsonov, Joe Thornton, and Glen Murray had a banner night, combining for 9 points, including four goals.

The victory wasn't without a downside, however. Goaltender John Grahame injured his right shoulder in the first period and was replaced by Steve Shields at the start of the second period.

Shields was expected to make his regular-season debut tonight against the Calgary Flames, but he was pressed into service. Grahame, who was wearing as sling after the game, recalled the circumstances that led to his injury.

''It was on the first goal. My shoulder got caught and I landed on it,'' said Grahame, referring to the scramble for the rebound. ''My arm was tucked in. I fell down when I was trying to make a save and it got caught underneath me. It's so frustrating.''

Grahame was not examined by a doctor after the game, so he does not know the extent of the injury.

''It's a litte sore but who knows,'' he said. ''It started to tighten up during the period and I didn't know if it would loosen up but it got worse and worse.

''I tried to make it through. I didn't want to put Shields in a tough situation like that, so I tried to finish as best I could.''

Grahame absorbed many high shots in the first 20 minutes, three off the face mask. He had injured his left shoulder in the first period of the exhibition finale against the New York Rangers Oct. 5.

According to media relations representative Mark Awdycki, Grahame was going to accompany the team to Calgary after the game and would be evaluated by medical personnel there. As a precaution, goalie Tim Thomas was recalled from Providence and is scheduled to meet the team in Calgary today.

The only one of 10 shots to beat Grahame came at 7:29 when center Harold Druken potted his first goal of the season. Defenseman Ed Jovanovski started the play with a slapper from the point that struck Grahame up high and appeared to knock the netminder off balance. A scramble ensued and Druken chopped the puck in for the 1-0 lead.

At the 12-minute mark, Grahame got hit again when a slapper by defenseman Brent Sopel caught him in the mask.

The Bruins pulled even at 14:17 on Murray's first goal of the season. He fired a forehander from the right side that caromed off the pad of goalie Dan Cloutier, and Murray guided the rebound through Cloutier's pads to make it 1-1.

The Bruins began the second period shorthanded as result of a late first-period penalty on defenseman Bryan Berard. The Canucks cashed in at 1:15 on the first goal of the season by bruising right wing Todd Bertuzzi, who was touted in the preseason as a possible Hart Trophy candidate as the league's most valuable player.

The Bruins tied it up again courtesy of their penalty killers. With Sean Brown in the box for charging, the Bruins made the most of a turnover and left wing P.J. Axelsson raced into the Canucks' zone with a two-on-none break. Axelsson switched to his backhand and beat Cloutier at 4:24.

The tie didn't last long. At 5:08, left wing Daniel Sedin scored his first goal of the season to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead.

Boston rallied late in the period, scoring a pair of goals. At 15:03, right wing Marty McInnis, who was scratched against the Avalanche Monday, took a cross-ice pass from Berard and wristed a shot from the right circle past Cloutier for his first goal.

Just 2:49 later, Samsonov tallied his second of the season to put the Bruins up, 4-3. Samsonov, who was assisted by Thornton and Murray, was questionable right up until the warmup. Samsonov was still feeling the effects of food poisoning suffered Monday night. He looked none the worse for wear, playing 26 shifts over 23 minutes 5 seconds and was a team-high plus-4.

Murray gave his team a little breathing room with his second of the contest. Defenseman Hal Gill ripped a shot that glanced off the glove of Cloutier. Before he could get back into position in the crease, Murray got the rebound behind the net and banked it off the netminder to make it 5-3 at 4:58. Thornton closed it out with an empty-netter at 19:26.

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 10/17/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.