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BRUINS 7, ISLANDERS 3 [ Game stats ]
Seven-goal barrage beats Islanders
One game shy of the halfway point of the season, the Bruins can finally let out a small sigh of relief after 21/2 weeks of near-futility.
Boston beat the Islanders last night, 7-3, at Nassau Coliseum, earning its first victory in eight games (1-5-2). The Bruins' last win had been Dec. 17 at Atlanta.
Since then, there had been nothing but trouble. The Bruins were shut out twice and had lost two of four overtime games. There was also distraction over rumors of coach Pat Burns's status and the continuing question surrounding the health of center Jason Allison, who scored his sixth goal in four games last night.
Last night's unlikely offensive hero was left wing P.J. Axelsson, who scored a pair of goals to give him five on the season. Anson Carter also scored twice as Boston snapped a five-game losing streak to the Islanders.
Allison was lukewarm about the victory.
''We were fortunate tonight,'' he said. ''We played terrible in the first and second periods and we still had a two-goal lead. The bounces went our way and we were lucky.
''We're a better team than they are, yet we're the ones playing scared. When you're going good, it's much easier to make the right decision and make the right play. Why are we panicking with the puck and throwing it away and throwing it in the middle?
''Make the right decision and hit the open guy - it's not a grenade. Hopefully, we'll get on the right track and start going like we were. We did have it at one time.''
The first two periods were a wild ride. The Bruins went up just 3:55 into the game thanks to a break.
Right wing Joe Murphy skated the puck through center ice and then launched a shot from just outside the blue line. Goalie Roberto Luongo, who showed a tendency to drop down early, seemed to lose sight of the puck as it caromed off the left post and into the net for the 1-0 lead.
There was all kinds of drama in the middle period, beginning with the Islanders tying the game at the 2:59 mark. Right wing Bill Muckalt dished a backhand pass to center Tim Connelly in the right circle. Connelly relayed the puck to Claude Lapointe, who swept a forehand shot past goalie Byron Dafoe inside the right post.
A few minutes later, the Bruins regained the lead on the first tally by Axelsson.
Center Andre Savage started the play by winning a faceoff in the left circle. He drew it back for defenseman Darren Van Impe at the left point, and Van Impe backhanded it to Axelsson in the slot. The shot beat Luongo at 6:50, giving Axelsson his first goal in 22 games and Boston a 2-1 advantage.
The Bruins gave themselves a little bit of breathing room at 17:39. Only 11 seconds after a Boston power play expired, Carter potted one. Left wing Sergei Samsonov moved the puck up the boards for defenseman Marty McSorley, who was positioned at the right point. McSorley sailed the puck toward the net, and Carter tipped it past Luongo.
That prosperity didn't last, though. Less than a minute later, the Islanders climbed back into it, pulling within 3-2. Center Dave Scatchard skated the puck out from behind the net and passed it to defenseman Vlad Chebaturkin in the slot. Chebaturkin's backhand shot eluded the left pad of Dafoe at 18:30.
The Bruins got their two-goal lead back with 55.8 seconds remaining, on Axelsson's second of the night. Rob DiMaio skated the puck up the right side and relayed it over to Axelsson in the high slot. Axelsson's slap shot headed right for Luongo's head. The young goalie looked like a deer caught in the headlights as the puck sailed into the net for the 4-2 lead.
Boston increased it to a three-goal lead at the two-minute mark of the third with both teams skating four aside. Center Joe Thornton skated the puck from the neutral zone and, even though he was hauled down, he kept control of the puck and from a sitting position got off a shot to score his 10th of the year and make it 5-2.
Allison scored a power-play goal at 13:12, and Carter added his second of the game and 15th of the season with 2:11 remaining. Muckalt finished off the scoring with 30 seconds left.
No matter how ugly it was, Burns said winning was paramount.
''We've been playing some pretty good hockey lately but couldn't get over the hump,'' he said. ''I just didn't want to lose this one tonight because it would have set us back another step. A game like tonight, I just hope it can give us a little bit of confidence and get us on a roll.''
This story ran on page F02 of the Boston Globe on 1/5/2000.
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NIONDALE, N.Y. - Finally.