[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 12/20/2002

ASHINGTON - If October and November were the stuff that dreams were made of for the Bruins, December has been nothing short of a nightmare.

The Bruins' stumbling continued last night with a 5-3 loss to the Capitals at the MCI Center. Despite a valiant third-period comeback when the Bruins scored three times, it wasn't enough. Boston has lost a season-high five straight games - the first such skid since Feb. 16-24, 2001. The loss, coupled with Ottawa's victory over San Jose, dropped the Bruins into a first-place tie with Ottawa atop the Eastern Conference.

Instead of being down, though, the morale in the Bruins' dressing room was upbeat.

''We felt like we played a good game,'' said Brian Rolston, who had a pair of goals and an assist for his first tallies in 11 contests.

The latest examples of Murphy's Law came at 7:10 of the first period. Rolston had the puck behind his own net with the Bruins on a power play but he lost control when Michael Nylander tied up one of his arms, and the happy recipient of the giveaway was Washington sniper Peter Bondra.

Bondra's shot went off the skate of rookie Ivan Huml past John Grahame, the winger's 12th goal and first in five games.

Another miscue led to the Capitals' second tally, at 10:51. After a dump-in, Grahame went to play the puck behind the net. It either took a bad bounce or he couldn't get any wood on it, and it drifted up into the right circle. Jeff Halpern collected the puck and dished it to Mike Grier, who was charging from the left side. Grier's backhander eluded Grahame and just like that, the Capitals were up, 2-0.

The Bruins got into penalty trouble in the middle period, which hindered their effort to get back in the game. P.J. Axelsson, who was back in the lineup after missing six games because of a bruised back, was whistled for holding at 2:38. Nick Boynton joined him shortly after when he was called for tripping, giving Washington a five-on-three advantage for 1:17.

Boston managed to fend it off but struggled to generate offense. After averaging 3.44 goals over their first 27 games, the Bruins have failed to score more than two goals in a game during this slump.

Bondra added to the Bruins' woes when he boosted the Capitals' lead to 3-0 at 15:18. Only six seconds out of the penalty box, Bondra took advantage of a blocked shot in Washington's end and raced up ice, beating Grahame for his second of the night.

Only 36 seconds later, Washington's lead ballooned to four. Defenseman Rick Berry, who was claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh Oct. 4, potted his first goal as a Capital when he scored from the left circle at 15:54.

Through 40 minutes, the Capitals were being outshot, 29-13, but they were the only ones finding the back of the net. That changed dramatically in the third.

The Bruins came to life, cutting the Capitals' lead in half. Joe Thornton did a lot of the work. First he drew an obstruction penalty on defenseman Brendan Witt. Then he drew a high-sticking call on defenseman Calle Johansson that broke three of Thornton's teeth, although Johansson actually lifted Thornton's stick and it flew out of the hands of the Bruins' captain and struck him in the face. That gave the Bruins a five-on-three advantage for 1:20. They cashed in.

At the 15-minute mark, Thornton, despite a bleeding mouth and a couple of swallowed teeth, got Boston on the board when he scored his 17th.

Thornton said he never considered leaving the ice.

''It's the bad part of my profession,'' said the amiable captain, who doesn't wear a mouthguard because he said it hinders his communication with his teammates. ''But what are you going to do? I thought our third period was one of our best periods of the year. We've got a lot of positives we can build on.''

On the ensuing five-on-four, Rolston broke out of his slump when he scored from the point at 5:38 with Mike Knuble screening goalie Olaf Kolzig.

Boston closed the gap to one when it scored its third goal on five shots at 9:57. Berry, off to the right of Kolzig, tried to clear the puck, but it bounced off the pads of Kolzig to Rolston, who was driving down the slot. Rolston poked it past the netminder and it was a new game.

But any hope of the Bruins climbing all the way back was snuffed out at 13:38 when Grier dished a pass to Steve Konowalchuk and it caromed off the Washington captain's skate and past Grahame. But there were no long faces afterward.

''We're on the way back up,'' said Rolston. ''We can feel it.''

This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 12/20/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.