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BRUINS 3, CANADIENS 3 Inspired effort vs. Canadiens
The club has been struggling and the goals have been few, even against weaker teams. All in all, it has been a dismal December (2-5-2).
So last night, against longtime rival Montreal, the Bruins had hoped to start something that could reverse their fortunes.
They didn't get a victory, but at least they turned in a spirited effort in a 3-3 tie at the FleetCenter. The Bruins are winless in their last three games (0-2-1) as they head into a two-day hiatus.
''I thought it was an entertaining game,'' said Pat Burns, who was coaching his 800th NHL contest. ''Both teams worked real hard. We had over 40 shots and had some good quality chances. If we keep on doing these things, it's going to turn. We're going to win some games, we're going to win a lot of games. I thought every guy in that room put a good effort on tonight.''
Jason Allison scored a pair of goals and was one of the Bruins' best players.
''It was a real good game by Jason,'' said Burns. ''I know he can still be better than that, and I think he knows it, too. He's going to get better than that. We have to keep on encouraging him and let him play his game.''
Allison said he thinks the Bruins can play better, but there were some encouraging signs.
''The character was what I liked the most,'' said Allison. ''The guys were playing with character and playing hard, but just not as smart as we can. We've got to be smarter and have a little more confidence.''
The Canadiens took the lead at 1:42 of the first period on a goal by center Craig Darby.
The Bruins tied it just 41 seconds later on Allison's sixth of the year at 2:23.
The Canadiens regained the lead, 2-1, at 12:31 when they scored their first of two power-play goals. Eric Weinrich dished a pass to Martin Rucinsky in the right circle, and Rucinsky beat Byron Dafoe top shelf into the right corner of the net for his 15th goal.
The Bruins pulled even again on Allison's second goal as left wing Sergei Samsonov dished the pass to Allison in the right circle and Allison, barreling toward the net, beat goalie Jeff Hackett with a forehand roof shot at 16:28.
Boston took the lead at 8:46 of the second when Thornton scored his eighth goal of the season and first in six games. With the Bruins on a power play, Joe Murphy passed to Thornton, who was behind the net. Thornton skated it out to Hackett's left, then flung the puck at the cage. His shot banked off the goalie and in.
It took a stroke of bad Bruins luck for Montreal to tie it. With 48.6 seconds remaining in the period, Samsonov and Montreal defenseman Igor Ulanov had a confrontation. Ulanov drilled Samsonov and Ray Bourque stepped in to help. Ulanov and Bourque mixed it up, drawing Allison in as well. When the dust had cleared, Ulanov, Allison, and Bourque all went to the penalty box for roughing, giving the Canadiens a power play.
Then the misfortune. Defenseman Patrice Brisebois fired a shot on net with pesky forward Shayne Corson working in front. The puck got through and Don Sweeney went behind Dafoe to try to sweep it out. But Sweeney missed the puck and it caromed off his left skate and into the net with 30.3 seconds left for the 3-3 tie.
''I was just coming back there as kind of a reaction,'' said Sweeney. ''I had just stopped and saw it coming through and couldn't get it with my stick and it had already hit my skate. If I had seen it one second earlier or maybe even one second later, it might not have hit me or I might have been able to get it out. I was just trying to make the right play. Obviously, I didn't do that. It's disappointing not to be able to come up big there.''
One area in which the Bruins need to improve is penalty killing; they allowed two power-play goals in four opportunities. The club went into the game with the third-worst penalty killing in the league after being the best last year.
''Our penalty killing is definitely not the same level it was last season,'' said Dafoe, who made 24 saves. ''When we come back from the break, hopefully we start working on that in practice. It's cost us a few games this year. We seem to run around a little bit more. Last year, we were controlled and didn't let them set up very often. This year, they're gaining the zone and setting up. It's something we need to work on.''
But the goalie said there were some good signs heading into the time off.
''We played fairly well for the full 65 minutes, which is definitely encouraging,'' he said. ''It's not two points but it's a big point for us, and I think we should be pretty happy with the way we played.''
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 12/24/1999.
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he Bruins were looking for a ray of hope heading into last night's final game before the Christmas break.