Bruins' effort is all for naught

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 1/12/2000

he effort was better.

The execution was better. The defensive play was worlds better than we've seen in these parts recently. Unfortunately for the Bruins, however, the result was the same as they fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, at the FleetCenter last night.

It was Boston's third loss in a row, and the Bruins are now five games under .500 (14-19-10) and 1-8-2 in their last 11 with Buffalo coming to town tomorrow.

The Bruins certainly were hurt by the number of injured players who couldn't suit up. Jason Allison is probably out for the season because of injuries to both hands; Sergei Samsonov is sidelined by a sore knee; Joe Hulbig is out with a groin strain; and Hal Gill has the flu. The Boston lineup was a hybrid of American Hockey League and National Hockey League talent.

What made it even worse was that Dave Andreychuk was knocked down by Mats Sundin in front of the net and injured his knee with 6.9 seconds left in the game. Andreychuk had to be helped to the dressing room.

''He popped a knee,'' said coach Pat Burns. ''It doesn't seem to be too serious from what the doctors told me. They'll have to wait and see what the swelling does.''

Despite their overall improved play, the Bruins didn't start off well, digging themselves a 2-0 hole in the first period when they surrendered a pair of goals in a span of less than two minutes.

The Maple Leafs scored first at 11:17, only three seconds after a power play had expired. Center Igor Korolev did the damage with his ninth goal of the year. He took a pass from former Bruin Dmitri Khristich and skated down the right circle, flipping a shot over the glove of Rob Tallas, who was making his first start in the Boston goal since Dec. 27.

The Maple Leafs made it 2-0 1:43 later, at the 13-minute mark, when they cashed in on the man advantage.

Khristich once again was instrumental in the score. With Kyle McLaren in the penalty box for interference, Khristich was parked along the left-wing boards and dished a cross-ice pass to Sundin. Sundin, in the right circle, fired a wrist shot that eluded Tallas for the Leaf captain's 19th goal of the year.

''It was a good shot,'' said Tallas, who had 23 saves. ''I need to keep my stick on the ice coming across, but up to now, I still didn't see it. It hit my stick and I knew it went under my stick. I just have to make sure I hold my stick a little tighter next time.''

Early in the second period, Steve Heinze got his first goal (and point) in 19 games to pull Boston within 2-1. Jay Henderson, just recalled from the minors because of the rash of Boston injuries, took a shot from long range that Curtis Joseph kicked out. Heinze pounced on the rebound and fired it into the net at 3:04.

The Bruins rallied to tie it early in the third.

P.J. Axelsson, who was Boston's best player, had the puck in the left circle and threw it at the net. Anson Carter was there to direct it past Joseph at the 25-second mark.

Axelsson said he didn't even see Carter.

''That was just lucky,'' he said. ''It looked like a nice pass but it was just luck.''

The Maple Leafs delivered the crushing blow at 8:31 when Korolev picked up his second goal of the game. Dimitri Yushkevich had the puck at the right point and fired it at the net. It hit Tallas's pad, but Korolev, who was parked right in front of the goalie, got the rebound and, without anyone to stop him, popped the puck over Tallas.

Boston put some heat on the Leafs during a power play late in the period in an urgent effort to tie it - with Joe Thornton coming oh-so-close, banking one off the post - but the Leafs killed off the penalty and the Bruins' chances as well.

Despite the disappointing defeat, the coach was encouraged.

''If we put some efforts like this together, we'll get some wins,'' said Burns. ''I liked our effort and I liked our attitude.''

This story ran on page F01 of the Boston Globe on 1/12/2000.
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