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BRUINS 2, OILERS 2 [ Game stats ]
Bruins earn tie in better effort
Those were all coach Pat Burns was looking for when he put his club through punishing drills for three days after last Saturday's embarrassing dismantling at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Before last night's game at the FleetCenter against the Edmonton Oilers, Burns wasn't predicting an outcome but said he wanted complete commitment from his team.
The result? A 2-2 tie that could easily have been a victory. But the Bruins had trouble finishing against former Boston goalie Bill Ranford (35 saves).
The Bruins are now winless in their last five games (0-2-3), but their coach said he was satisfied.
''I thought the team responded well,'' said Burns, whose club got a big lift from the return of defenseman Kyle McLaren and forwards Joe Murphy and Rob DiMaio. ''We played well and played hard right to the end. That's all I'm asking. I'm asking for a good effort, and good things will come.
''We certainly would've liked to pick up that extra point, but ... we had our chances to do it. We'll keep on working and if you keep on working, it's going to come. We recall maybe two months ago when we were getting our chances and we weren't winning games and there was a lot of panic. I don't want to set that panic in. It'll come if we stay and work the way we're working now.''
The Bruins carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, and it easily could've been more as Boston outshot the visitors, 13-7.
At 6:43, Mikko Eloranta made a perfect feed to Dave Andreychuk in front for a point-blank opportunity. That was followed less than a minute later when the checking line of Anson Carter, DiMaio, and P.J. Axelsson peppered Ranford with a series of shots. All three had bids from the left side, with Axelsson's second of two chances nearly squeaking past Ranford at the left post.
Jason Allison finally broke through with Boston on the power play at 15:41. Andreychuk, who had the puck along the right side of the goal line, dished to Allison, who was charging down the left side. Allison shoveled it over Ranford for the 1-0 lead. It was Allison's fourth goal and just the fifth power-play goal in the Bruins' last 31 opportunities.
The Oilers tied it less than a half-minute into the second period on a goal by Doug Weight. Defenseman Tom Poti relayed a pass to Weight, who was in the far right circle. Weight blasted a slap shot that struck goalie Byron Dafoe in the right shoulder before landing in the net at the 25-second mark.
The deadlock didn't last long, as Murphy, who was playing just his second game as a Bruin and his first since Nov. 17, struck for his second goal of the season. Murphy tried to beat Ranford with a backhander from the left circle, but the Oilers goalie made the save. The puck went out in front, caroming off skates. Murphy got to the rebound, and his second backhand shot squeaked past Ranford at 1:10.
The Bruins suffered a serious loss at 1:40 when Eloranta got tangled with defenseman Bert Robertsson in the left corner of the Oilers' zone and crashed feet-first into the boards. Eloranta, in obvious agony, lay still and was attended to by the medical staff. After several minutes, he was placed on a stretcher and transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a badly broken left ankle and could be out several months.
Burns said he noticed a change in his team from that point. ''After that Mikko injury, I felt our play go down a little bit,'' said the coach. ''I don't know if it was the delay or because players were concerned. It took a while to get going after that.''
The Oilers took advantage and tied it, 2-2, on a goal by Todd Marchant. Ryan Smyth, behind the Bruins' net, centered a pass out to Marchant, who rapped it in at 13:59.
The Bruins outshot the Oilers, 7-5, in the third period and 3-0 in overtime, but had to settle for the point.
''All in all, I think we should be pleased with the effort,'' said Dafoe, who faced 21 shots. ''You're never happy with a tie, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.''
This story ran on page C01 of the Boston Globe on 12/10/99.
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better effort. Better skating. More grit, determination, and better execution.