|
 |
| |||
 | |||
|
| | |
CAPITALS 3, BRUINS 0 [ Game stats ]
They're shut out by Billington and the Capitals
It was only the second time the Bruins have been blanked this year, the other time being Oct. 4 at Toronto. The loss ended their unbeaten streak at four games and was only their second defeat in 13 games (9-2-2). It was Boston's first loss at home since opening night when the Bruins fell to Carolina.
''It was a series like the Keystone Kops tonight,'' said coach Pat Burns. ''We were falling, we made bad decisions with the puck. It's going to happen I guess. Everybody was just not in it tonight. There are going to be nights like that, that's why there are 82 games.''
Some nights, there is no inspiration and right from the get-go it was clear the Bruins had none.
At 11:47 of the first, the Bruins were outshooting Washington, 8-2, but their scoring chances weren't prime. A tricky shot from the blue line by defenseman Mattias Timander seemed to catch goalie Craig Billington off-guard but beyond that, they did not put much pressure on the former Bruin.
At 12:09, the Capitals got all they would need on Peter Bondra's 11th goal of the season. Glen Metropolit, a 25-year-old rookie, was behind the net and centered a pass to Bondra in the left circle. Bondra one-timed his shot and it beat goalie Byron Dafoe to the far side for the 1-0 lead.
The Bruins got a scare at 13:35 when pesky defenseman Brendan Witt leveled a heavy check on center Joe Thornton. Thornton was rammed into the boards in front of the Washington bench and it appeared he landed left shoulder first and hit his head before falling to the ice. He was shaken but went to the bench under his own power and returned to play the rest of the game.
The Capitals' second goal, with 3:28 left in the period, was ugly as the Bruins surrendered their first shorthanded goal of the season. With Bondra off for holding the stick, center Andrei Nikolishin, who had two goals, skated the puck down the left side of the Bruins' zone, cut through the middle and scored on a turnaround shot that eluded a screened Byron Dafoe at 16:32.
''I thought the Capitals played a perfect game,'' said Burns. ''They met us at the red line. We tried to dipsy-doodle around them and got put on our ass. We lost possession of the puck. We gave them the puck all night. I thought our passing was horrendous.''
The Bruins had three power plays in the first period but weren't able to finish anything off. Part of that was due to strong penalty killing by the Capitals, who went into the game having stopped 48 consecutive power-play chances and made it 53 straight as the Bruins went 0 for 5 on with the man advantage. In the last 14 games, the Caps killed 60 of 61 power plays.
Boston's fortunes never improved. The Bruins had a power play midway through the third but Washington wouldn't allow them any setup room and their fourth man advantage of the game came up empty, evoking a loud series of boos from the crowd. ''We deserved it,'' said Burns of the jeers. ''We deserved every single drop of it. We didn't show up and play the game like it should be played. I don't blame the fans. We were awful tonight.''
Nikolishin wrapped things up with an empty-netter with 26.6 seconds left and Billington picked up his eighth career shutout.
''We were fumbling everywhere,'' said Ray Bourque, who played almost 28 minutes despite being under the weather as a result of the flu. ''It was not one guy, it was pretty much through the whole club. It's a very disappointing game for us. It was just a terrible game.''
This story ran on page D07 of the Boston Globe on 11/21/99.
|
ome nights it just isn't there. The bounces are off, the execution isn't up to snuff. It just isn't your night. That's how it was for the Bruins last night. They had no energy, no drive, no emotion, and as a result were shut out by the Washington Capitals, 3-0, at the FleetCenter.