[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 12/29/2002

TLANTA - No one took Friday night's defeat in Tampa harder than Bruins goalie John Grahame. Grahame, who gave up three goals on four shots in the final period, was beside himself after the contest, taking responsibility for the winning goal and the collapse that followed.

Coach Robbie Ftorek went back to Grahame last night against the Thrashers, giving him an immediate chance to redeem himself. Grahame (29 saves) made the most of it with his first shutout of the season, and fourth of his career, in a 1-0 victory at Philips Arena.

It was the first time Grahame had held a foe scoreless since blanking Columbus Feb. 4, 2002.

The third period was a far cry from the wreck on Friday. The Bruins, holding a one-goal lead, went into shutdown mode, despite having to kill off a double minor on Glen Murray, and made sure they didn't allow the Thrashers to climb back.

The Bruins played a better game than they had Friday. If not for the strong goaltending of Pasi Nurminen, Boston would've had a bigger lead than the 1-0 advantage the Bruins took into the final 20 minutes.

The only tally came at 17:59 of the first period with the Bruins on the power play. Sean O'Donnell, who has been playing extremely well despite the team's recent struggles, had the puck at the right point. He threw it toward the net and Rob Zamuner redirected it for his fifth goal of the season.

As has been the case all season, Joe Thornton and Murray were everywhere. With Mike Knuble still sidelined by the flu, Thornton was moved to the left side and Ftorek moved up Jozef Stumpel to play the pivot between his most productive forwards. The trio generated many good chances. Through 40 minutes, Thornton and Murray combined for eight of the club's 24 shots.

Ftorek also tinkered with his other combinations, in part because rookie Ivan Huml was out with a rib injury. Center Brian Rolston, who has struggled for offense lately, had P.J. Axelsson on his left side but had Michal Grosek on his right instead of Martin Lapointe. The line had numerous scoring chances. Grosek had four shots in the first two periods and Rolston had two.

Even Andy Hilbert, called up yesterday from Providence to center the fourth line of left wing Lee Goren and right wing Sean Brown, had a couple of shots despite only 3 minutes 52 seconds of ice time through the first 40 minutes.

Ftorek praised all his lines but said he'd just like to get everyone back.

"When we get our guys healthy, then we'll deal with what we have to deal with," said Ftorek. "The way the guys worked, everyone put out really, really hard."

The Thrashers had trouble getting their offense on track. One night after an impressive 5-3 victory in Carolina, Atlanta couldn't get anything past Grahame. Part of the reason was the Bruins' defense. It limited the Thrashers' chances, cleared rebounds, and played with patience.

The Bruins were content to make the simple play instead of trying to force something. Most importantly, they kept young snipers Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk off the board, in large part because of Rolston and Axelsson. Heatley had just two shots, one in the final few seconds with Nurminen on the bench for an extra attacker, and Kovalchuk didn't have a shot.

"I think the penalty killers and Grahame did a great job," said Ftorek. "The best scoring chance they had, or one of the best, was the last shot by Heatley [through traffic]. That would've been a killer but Grahame made a huge save on that."

And one day later, the disappointment was all but erased.

"It's great playing back-to-back games when you're a little upset about the first game," said Zamuner. "You can bounce back right away and get the bitter taste out of your mouth."

This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 12/29/2002.
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