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BLACHAWKS 9, BRUINS 3 [ Game stats ]
Lowly Blackhawks light up FleetCenter with nine-goal outburst
''We let the organization and our fans down,'' said a contrite Don Sweeney, who was just one of 20 culpable black-and-gold souls who played out 60 horrifying minutes on Causeway Street. ''I know I'm disappointed in myself, and I'm also apologetic.''
Mea culpas were the order of the moment, following a thrashing that was the worst on home ice in the Pat Burns era. The only other time the Bruins allowed nine goals in their New Garden - a 9-6 loss to Pittsburgh, Nov. 30, 1995 - Steve Kasper was in charge of the Boston bench.
Making the loss all the more inexplicable, of course, was the profile of the conquerors. The Blackhawks entered the night with the fewest wins (five) in the Original 28, lost the night before, and were still reeling from a shakeup last week that saw their general manager get canned and their head coach, Lorne Molleken, demoted to sidecar patrol duty beside the club's senior senator, Bob Pulford.
Despite all that, the Hawks came into the old West End and revived it as a red-light district, constantly triggering the beacon behind Byron Dafoe (16 shots, 11 saves, 27 minutes 30 seconds) and Rob Tallas (19 shots, 15 saves, 32:30). Michael Nylander knocked in four goals and Doug Gilmour and Eric Daze had two apiece. For a club already booked for an April cruise to the Bermuda Triangle, the Hawks toyed with the Bruins, especially in Boston's defensive end, the acreage where even mediocre Boston squads through the years have at least maintained their identity.
''We were fortunate they didn't score 15 goals, actually,'' said a disgruntled Burns, the loss second only to a 10-5 thrashing in Florida Nov. 26, 1997, for most goals allowed during his tenure. ''You can bench one or two guys, but you can't bench the whole team.''
Burns expressed regret for anyone who witnessed the carnage.
''I have to apologize to every fan who came here,'' he said, ''and to anyone who watched it. It's embarrassing.''
His players did execute one assignment perfectly. When the media were allowed into the near-silent dressing room, every member of the club, even those not in uniform, were seated in front of their lockers. They were instructed by Burns not to shower until they answered for their efforts and they dutifully obeyed.
''Go ahead, take your shot,'' said a forever-realistic Steve Heinze as the media entered the room. ''We deserve it.''
Blowouts are hardly a rarity. Virtually every team gets humbled over the course of an 82-game schedule. But this was Ruthian in its rudeness because it was: 1. the Hawks, 2. at home, and 3. an utterly pathetic performance from top to bottom. The lineup of 18 skaters finished a minus-34 for the night. Heading into the night, only seven Bruins had minus ratings for the season, adding up to a minus-20 among them. This was, simply, as bad as it gets.
''We got our asses kicked, no question about it,'' said Dafoe, who headed to the bench when the Hawks made it 5-2 only 7:30 into the second.
''You can't say it was this guy or that guy,'' said Jason Allison, ''because everyone was bad. It was just an awful team effort. Not one guy, everybody. If someone in here thinks they were good tonight, they'd better look in the mirror.''
After once more falling into a an early 2-0 deficit - reminiscent of their 2-2 tie in Washington Thursday night - the Bruins rallied on power-play strikes by Ray Bourque and Joe Thornton. From there, though, it was a horror show.
Nylander completed the hat trick in the third period when the Hawks scored four unanswered goals, making it 6-2 after two periods. In the third, Daze's first of two made it 7-2 before Joe Hulbig scored Boston's third goal. The final hooks and jabs were thrown by Nylander and Daze.
The most alarming aspect to it all was Boston's lack of resistance in its own end. The Bruins abandoned their trademark aggressive defensive play, spending much of the night futilely reaching for Chicago puck carriers.
''We haven't played well the last four or five games,'' said Sweeney. ''We got behind early again, and that's something we've tried to address. But we made the same mistakes, and they capitalized on it.''
This story ran on page C03 of the Boston Globe on 12/05/99.
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n a night when a crowd of 17,156 at the FleetCenter resisted the urge to chant ''Refund! Refund! Refund!'' the Bruins, after bing pummeled by the lowly Blackhawks, 9-3, issued the next best thing - an apology.