Breaking point for Bruins

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 2/20/2003

ALEIGH, N.C. -- On paper, it was a slam dunk. The Bruins, embarrassed by the Nashville Predators Monday, came into town with a day off between games. The Carolina Hurricanes, who have effectively conceded the season and are planning for next year and beyond, played in Toronto Tuesday night. They had to travel home and play Boston last night, so the scenario was set.

The desperate Bruins versus the tired and out-of-contention Hurricanes. Two points in the bank for the Bruins, right? A chance to reverse their sagging fortunes, right?

Wrong.

The Bruins had trouble solving Hurricanes goaltender Kevin Weekes on their rare forays into the attacking zone (which didn't happen until the third period), but they did manage to salvage a point in a 1-1 tie at RBC Center.

The Bruins are now 1-4-1-0 in their last six games and are on dangerous ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race with 23 games left. Tampa Bay won last night and is now tied with the Bruins with 64 points. A win by the Islanders in San Jose would give them 64 points also, and the Rangers climbed to within 7 points of the Bruins with their victory over Minnesota.

It was all Carolina in the first two periods, as the Hurricanes outshot Boston, 22-9. The only goal came at 11:50 of the first on a power-play tally by forward Jeff O'Neill.

With Bruins forward Kris Vernarsky in the box for tripping, left wing Jan Hlavac dished a pass to center Ron Francis, who was positioned to the left of goaltender Steve Shields. Francis threaded it through the crease to O'Neill, who tapped it in for his 23d of the season.

Bruins right wing Martin Lapointe had tried to inject some life into his sagging club at the 40-second mark.

After Craig Adams drilled defenseman Don Sweeney into the boards, which resulted in the veteran having X-rays after the period, Lapointe stood up for his teammate and took on Adams. But that energy didn't translate into any offensive spark.

It wasn't until a third-period power play that the Bruins found the back of the net when Brian Rolston teed up a slapper from the right point that beat Weekes through a screen at 13:49. Boston had a 14-2 edge in shots at that point and outshot Carolina in the period, 16-4.

''It was nice to get it,'' said Rolston, who said he thought Jozef Stumpel tipped it in. ''Goals for our whole team have been few and far between lately. We've just got to keep battling.''

General manager Mike O'Connell, who flew from Boston for the game, said he was at a loss to figure out how the team could go from so good in the first two months of the season to so anemic now.

''It's been a lot of things,'' said O'Connell. ''It just seems like when we get going in the right direction, something else pops up. It looks like at times we have a good, diligent effort and at other times we don't. We come out against Nashville and don't play like you should the first 40 minutes. I don't have any answers. It's unacceptable.''

When goalie Jeff Hackett was yanked in the second period of Monday's game in Nashville, he reacted to a fan heckling him and responded verbally.

It was an example of the team's tenseness.

''The team is frustrated, everyone is frustrated,'' said O'Connell. ''That's the stuff that happens when you lose.''

As the Bruins continue to struggle, other clubs are climbing in the standings.

Although a quarter of the season remains, O'Connell said it isn't too soon to be worried about making the postseason.

''Of course we're concerned about it,'' he said. ''We've been concerned about it for a month now. When you lose four, five, or six games in a row, you get concerned and you want to right the ship. We've had those and we've righted the ship, and now we're back at it again. It's mind-boggling. Why were we so good with basically the same [team]? When we were playing and winning, everyone was playing and everyone was moving. It was a cohesive unit, five up and five back. It didn't matter who we inserted, everything was five up and five back. The gaps were right, the distance between the passes was right. It's just not happening right now. ''A lot of it is mental, a lot of it is execution, a lot of it is confidence. We're having a hard time getting out of this funk we're in.''

Coach Robbie Ftorek is hoping last night, though a modest step forward, will be the start of a turnaround.

''I think we played with more intensity,'' said Ftorek. ''We played a much smarter game, not a great game, but much smarter.''

This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 2/20/2003.
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