Open Season

Bruins drop first game as questions begin

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 10/03/99

OK, so now we know the Bruins won't go undefeated in the regular season.

Beyond that, it's too early to tell much of anything else.

There were some good signs in last night's opener -- a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the FleetCenter -- such as a portion of Boston's first- and third-period performances.

Then there were others that weren't exactly what you wanted to see -- such as the Dave Andreychuk-Jason Allison-Anson Carter line combining for exactly one shot in the first 40 minutes despite four power plays and a total of three shots in the game. There were too many turnovers, too many long shifts for players who should know better, and not nearly enough determination to match Carolina's.

Rob Tallas made his debut as the interim No. 1 goalie and though he looked fine at times, there were some aspects of his play that were troubling, such as the second Carolina goal that wound up the winner.

"We were trying to be offensive,'' said coach Pat Burns. "We lost pucks in the neutral zone all night long. Steve Heinze was probably the first guy I asked and said he'd lost about 20 pucks and he agreed. We wanted to bring it up and deke this guy and that guy. We're not playing exhibition series against junior guys in the lineup. This is the real thing. I mentioned one name but our two top lines did it all night long, they just lost the puck. It's very difficult to try to create any offense if you don't have the puck.''

If the Bruins, who sustained their first opening loss in 13 years, are going to grind it out through the minefield that is the Eastern Conference, Tallas is going to have to make more than routine saves. He's going to have to steal games and the Bruins are going to have to test opposing goalies a whole lot more than they tested Arturs Irbe last night. Tallas admitted to being frustrated by chants of "We want Dafoe'' from the crowd and he said he knew it wasn't his best showing.

"It was OK, it wasn't great,'' said Tallas. "I think the second goal got away from me. I definitely leaned to the wrong side and I gave a push, thinking he was going short side and that was definitely my mistake. I can't let that happen. You're going up against a good goaltender who only gives up one goal and for me to beat him, I had to have been at my best and I wasn't. I have to look at this is I can only get better.''

After a scoreless first, the Bruins took their only lead early in the second when they cashed in on a power play. Andreychuk started it with a pass to Allison behind the net. Allison gunned the puck up for Ray Bourque, who snapped it in from atop the left circle at 1:43. It was Bourque's 386th career goal and it moved him one ahead of Carolina defenseman Paul Coffey, who didn't dress last night.

Boston's elation was short-lived, however. In a span of 1 minute 20 seconds, the Hurricanes scored on consecutive shots and went ahead to stay, 2-1. Sami Kapanen pulled Carolina even at 4:30. At 5:50, Kent Manderville came skating up the right side, ripping a shot from the right circle. It beat Tallas, who guessed wrong, to the far side and just like that the Bruins were in a hole.

The Bruins didn't play well for the rest of the second. In the third, they came out pretty well but wound up buried when Jeff Daniels scored the third Carolina goal at 12:30. Boston's offensive opportunities were too few and far between to forge any kind of comeback.

The opener wasn't awful but it wasn't very good either. Part of the problem is that Allison, who was injured through most of training camp, was playing his first game since last May.

As a team, the Bruins earned barely a C-minus.

"There was some good, mostly bad,'' said Bourque. "The first half was all right, then we really got scrambly. We got caught out there on long shifts and got tired and we were running after them all night. We couldn't get out of our way for a while.''

The schedule doesn't get any easier and Burns said there has to be a sense of urgency.

"The quest for the playoffs begins now,'' said Burns. "It doesn't begin in March. It begins now. And all teams know that.''