Bruins loaf against Leafs

There Are Early Warning Signs As Boston Slips To 0-2

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 10/05/99

TORONTO -- Whatever the reason, the excuse, the blame, the root cause, the problem, the truth of the matter is this: The 1999-2000 Bruins right now look a lot like their sad-sack early-1960s forebears.

Sure, it's early, but it's never so early simply to dismiss lack of passion and absence of skating. The Bruins were listless in a 4-0 loss to the Maple Leafs here last night, a setback that left them 0 for 2 on the new season. It is the first time they have opened with a pair of losses since 1986-87.

With John Grahame making his NHL debut in the Boston net, the Leafs ran off with a 3-0 lead in the first period and added another goal in the second.

What's the malaise all about?

Could be that the team psyche has slumped in the midst of Byron Dafoe's contract holdout.

Could be that the hockey world was deceived last spring when the young Bruins looked to be coming of age with a first-round playoff victory over Carolina and a respectable showing against the Sabres in Round 2. Maybe they just weren't/aren't that good.

Or it could be as simple, and banal, as forgetting how to play, an instant onset of athletic amnesia. If so, the Bruins had better jog their memory before they're working with, say, a 1-8-1 record and faced with a five-month battle to capture a playoff berth.

The first period was about the worst period played by the Bruins since the arrival of Pat Burns behind their bench in the fall of '97.

The damage in the first 20 minutes: a 3-0 Toronto lead on a lopsided shot advantage of 16-3; the Leafs also won 16 of 20 faceoffs.

The whole thing was nothing short of an embarrassment for the Bruins, who were sloppy in all three zones, a trend that began in Saturday's season-opening loss to Carolina. Rather than snap out of their funk, the Bruins fell further into the doldrums, a club not so much beaten down by the opposition as held back by its own lack of drive and passion.

The Leafs, playing their first game this season in the shiny Air Canada Centre, needed only 2:00 to take the lead. Mats Sundin got the goal, afforded not one, not two, but three shots on Grahame. Sundin, with help from linemate Steve Thomas, let go his first shot from mid-slot. The rebound free, Sundin picked it up on a backhander and nailed Grahame with No. 2. Finally, with the Boston defense yet to react, Sundin popped in the lead. The Bruins argued that he kicked the puck across the line, but the goal stood. The beating was under way.

With 2:24 left in the period, Igor Korolev jumped the lead to 2-0 when he rushed to the left post and popped in the rebound off an Alex Karpovtsev snap shot off the boards. The Leafs had the two-goal lead with the benefit of a 14-3 shot bulge.

Finally, Mike Johnson delivered the 3-0 lead with a shot from the inside of the right circle, a split-second after Yanic Perreault picked Anson Carter's pocket on a draw to Grahame's left. Grahame never saw the shot, reacting only when the crowd of 18,927 broke into wild cheers with the red light flashing behind the goal.

The Bruins made a slightly better showing in the second period, keeping the shots closer (Toronto, 8-5) and giving up only one goal. But they again were blanked on the scoreboard by Curtis Joseph, who had perhaps his easiest night of work since moving to the Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of '98.

Todd Warriner banged in the 4-0 lead with 7:42 remaining. Standing in front of Grahame to provide a screen, Warriner tipped the puck high into the net, putting a nice touch to a 58-foot wrister by former Mount St. Charles star Bryan Berard. A holdout through all of training camp, Berard came to terms on a two-year contract Thursday. The assist was his first point of the season.

When the Bruins lost their first two games of '86, Butch Goring was the coach. Just a month later, on Nov. 5, Goring was fired following an 8-3 loss in Buffalo -- and he didn't get back into the NHL until the Islanders hired him as coach this season.