Bruins can't bear the heat

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 1/16/2003

UNRISE, Fla. - The Bruins thought they hit bottom when they were shellacked by the Islanders Jan. 3. Or was it when they were beaten in Toronto Jan. 7? Wait, maybe it was a home defeat to Carolina Jan. 4. Anybody want to nominate their loss in Buffalo last Friday? Or their home stinker against Pittsburgh Monday night?

Perhaps the best indication that the Bruins are in big trouble was last night's 3-0 loss to the Florida Panthers at the Office Depot Center. This was the same Panther team that had lost five in a row coming in and had been outscored in that span a whopping 25-8. This was the same team that had won only 12 of their first 44 contests.

But last night, the Panthers might not have been the team with more wins, but they were the better team. The Bruins, who will be reunited with their captain, Joe Thornton, at practice today in Atlanta, are living a nightmare.

They have lost 13 of their last 17 (3-13-1-0) and seven of their last eight (1-7-0-0). They have been outscored, 29-17, over the last eight.

''There's not much to say about it,'' said Brian Rolston. ''We had two turnovers for goals. I'm not sure what happened on the third goal. You just shake your head. We've had a million meetings, we've gone over the videos. It's just a matter of doing it. There's no question the execution is slightly off, to say the least. When things go bad, you don't do the things you do when you have confidence. It's just a snowball effect.''

A few of the faces were changed at the start of this one, but the results were incredibly familiar.

Florida outshot Boston, 12-7, in the first period but Bruins goaltender Andrew Raycroft, who was making his first NHL start this season, turned them all aside. Meanwhile, at the other end, the Bruins once again couldn't finish.

Things got worse in the second. The threats started at 1:06 when left wing Kristian Huselius clanged a shot off the post. On the same shift, though, the Panthers put one past Raycroft, with an assist from Huselius. With the Panthers rushing up ice on a 2-on-1, Jaroslav Bednar dished a pass from the top of the left circle to center Olli Jokinen in the slot. His forehand wrister sailed over the glove of Raycroft and into the net for the lead at 1:25.

At 8:04, the Bruins had a chance for the equalizer when Bryan Berard was high-sticked by defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh. Despite three shots during the man advantage, though, Boston couldn't get anything past Roberto Luongo.

The Panthers threatened again at 12:56 when defenseman Lance Ward dished a backhanded pass to center Ryan Johnson, who was driving to the net. But his shot hit the post and bounced away.

Bruins forward Sean Brown tried to get something going for his team with a backhanded bid at 13:23 but his shot went into the pads of Luongo.

Jokinen then boosted the Panthers' lead to 2-0. The Bruins gave up the puck, a turnover forced by the strong play of Huselius. Bednar got the puck and fired it on net. It hit the right post and caromed right to Jokinen, who swatted in the rebound at 16:34 for his 22d goal of the season.

Defenseman Andreas Lilja closed out the scoring when he potted his first of the season with 3:19 remaining. It cemented the Panthers' win, their first at home in 11 tries, the last coming when they beat Carolina Dec. 4. For the Bruins, they had hit bottom. Again.

''It's frustrating,'' said Hal Gill. ''We're trying, we're really working at it. The timing is off a little bit and it costs a lot.''

With all this losing, it has been a challenge to keep the morale from sinking like a stone.

''You don't have much of a choice,'' said Gill. ''You can get negative and tell everyone they blew it or you can go out and try to do a better job next time. It's easy to say we're going to be positive, but it's tough.''

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 1/16/2003.
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