[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 10/25/2002

hey had wanted it to be more. They wanted to give Terry O'Reilly a victory. They wanted the Bruin with the heart of a lion to have his night of celebration and tribute capped by a triumph.

But it was not to be. Instead, the Bruins skated to a 2-2 tie in last night's home opener at the FleetCenter. At least they earned a point and extended their unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2-0).

''The boys fought back so we didn't screw it up,'' said coach Robbie Ftorek, whose club rallied from a one-goal deficit in the third period. ''We didn't do exactly what he wanted us to do, but they fought back and I'm sure he appreciated that tie.''

Defenseman Hal Gill gave Boston the lead a mere 32 seconds into the action. Gill's shot from the blue line pinged off several players, most notably the stick of Ottawa center Shaun Van Allen, and sailed past goaltender Patrick Lalime.

It was the second goal in two games for Gill, who figured the last time he scored in back-to-back games was when he was playing for Nashoba Regional High School.

''I got the puck and shot it,'' said Gill. ''It went off everyone in the rink and then into the net.''

With 13.6 seconds left in the period, the Senators thought they had tied it. Mike Fisher and Bruins defenseman Don Sweeney got tangled up in front of the Boston net as a centering pass was coming. Fisher and Sweeney both fell and the puck went off Fisher's skate and into the net along with Fisher himself. It was ruled no goal after a video review because it was determined Fisher made a distinct kicking motion.

The teams traded scoring chances in the middle period but the Bruins couldn't get anything past Lalime. At 10:17, a few seconds after Gill had skated through the entire Senators team on the way to a good scoring chance, Ottawa turned the tables. With the Bruins caught deep, Marian Hossa took off on a breakaway but his forehand shot, an attempt to beat goalie Steve Shields through the five-hole, was denied and defenseman Jonathan Girard cleared the puck, preventing a rebound.

''I don't know what happened but for some reason, no one touched me,'' said Gill. ''A little turnover and I miss the net and it goes right back the other way. You have to be careful of that and I have to talk to one of the forwards because someone should be covering me.''

The Senators pulled even at the 14-minute mark of the second on a goal by Daniel Alfredsson. They took their first lead on a power-play strike by Hossa at 4:36 of the third. A little more than four minutes later, center Brian Rolston tied it for good with his second goal of the year at 8:45.

The Bruins were disappointed they couldn't eke out a better result but said it wasn't for lack of motivation.

''That's quite a rush when you watch Terry's old footage and see the way he played,'' said Gill. ''I think that's a lift when you go out there and you realize you're wearing the same sweater and doing the same thing. One of the things I think was inspiring was when he said something about true heroes being teachers and firefighters and really, we have a game, and why shouldn't we give everything we have.''

When the season started, there was no Bill Guerin, no Byron Dafoe, no Kyle McLaren. Critics said the team wasn't going to be very good. They lost their first game badly but haven't lost since. Even with Sergei Samsonov, Martin Lapointe, and John Grahame missing, they've found a way to get it done.

''We have a good, sound team all the way through,'' said Gill. ''I think we have a lot of players who people overlook. P.J. Stock, Mike Knuble, Marty McInnis. These guys are good players and they can step into situations. Brian Rolston had a great year last year and you can't say enough about what he does for this team.

''There are a lot of guys who have been overlooked who really shouldn't have been. They're guys who make the difference. Robbie put in a system where you don't have to be a superstar to succeed in it. You have to be a guy who knows what's going on and be attentive and disciplined and in the right spot.''

A point may have been disappointing in the sense there wasn't the storybook ending they hoped for but this was an evening when only the bright side counted.

''It was a night for us to play well for our fans and to play well for Terry O'Reilly,'' said Stock. ''It's not just the ceremony, it was the whole night. Unfortunately, there weren't enough fights or enough goals for him to be satisfied.''

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 10/25/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.