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BRUINS 2, HURRICANES 1 [ Game stats ]
After all, the Bruins were without their leading scorer, Joe Thornton, who was sidelined by a bruised knee; they were missing one of their key defensemen in Kyle McLaren (sprained thumb) and a good number of other players were either banged up or weakened by the flu.
After a dismal effort against the Washington Capitals at home Saturday, Burns was both hoping for and expecting a better effort. His team responded with a 2-1 win last night, putting them back on track.
It wasn't easy by any means, nor was it pretty. Trying to generate offense against the prickly Hurricanes is like fighting through a briar patch in your underwear. It's not a lot of fun.
``It [showed] good character,'' said Burns. ``I'm proud of these guys to be able to come back with a decimated lineup like we have, and to be able to come back and do that tonight.
``Everybody was on top of his game. I thought [Anson] Carter's line did a tremendous job. That was the key to the game right there.''
Carter, along with P.J. Axelsson and Mikko Eloranta, was in charge of shutting down the high-flying line of Ron Francis, Bates Battaglia, and Sami Kapanen. When all was said and done, Carter's line held Francis's unit to no points and just two shots, both by Kapanen.
The first period was pretty ugly. There were breakdowns in the Boston end, but the Bruins didn't give up an abundance of chances. However, there were three partial breakaways. The most dangerous one came at 17:45 when Battaglia charged down the ice and rattled a shot off the crossbar.
The Hurricanes took the lead at 7:42 after putting pressure on the Bruins down low. Center Byron Ritchie relayed a centering pass to right wing Tommy Westlund, who was off to the left of goalie Byron Dafoe. Westlund dished a pass through the crease for left wing Martin Gelinas, who batted the puck past Dafoe for his first goal of the season.
In the second period, the Bruins were down to just four defensemen as a result of losing Mattias Timander (shoulder) in the first period and Hal Gill for a time in the second. Gill suffered a nasty cut to the face in the second but returned for the third.
The Bruins tied the game at 17:06 of the second when Dave Andreychuk, playing on a makeshift line, came through. Andreychuk, who was broken off from Jason Allison as Burns juggled his lines to deal with the injuries, tallied his 14th of the year.
Steve Heinze had the puck in the left circle and dropped it down deep for Shawn Bates, who stepped in to fill Thornton's shoes. Bates, along the goal line, darted for the net and tried to pop it in at the left post. The puck squirted out to Andreychuk in the slot and he rapped it past Arturs Irbe for the 1-1 tie.
Bates, who played 16:31 in his best performance as a pro, came close to scoring on several opportunities.
But it was Allison who gave the Bruins the lead for good at 3:40 of the third period with a great individual effort. He came out of the right corner with the puck, beat two Carolina defenders, and lifted a backhand shot that beat Irbe high.
``It was one of our best wins of the year,'' said Allison. ``They're fast and they don't give you much. Everyone sucked it up and did what they had to do.''
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 11/23/99.
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ALEIGH, N.C. _ Several hours before the game, in the bowels of the new Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Center, Bruins coach Pat Burns said that if his club could grind out a victory against the stingy Carolina Hurricanes, he'd be very proud of them.