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BRUINS 4 THRASHERS 3 [ Game stats ]
''We won,'' said Boston winger Steve Heinze, in a moment of mock bewilderment. ''Finally, we won.''
Erasing third-period deficits of 2-1 and 3-2, the Bruins triumphed for only the fourth time since Thanksgiving when P.J. Axelsson rushed the net and knocked in Rob DiMaio's relay from behind the goal with 4:17 remaining.
It snapped the Bruins' six-game winless streak (0-3-3) and improved their record to 4-12-8 in their 24 games since what has turned into the fateful holiday break.
''The puck was right in front of my feet,'' said Axelsson, explaining the gift relay he received, a nice feed that the plucky DiMaio made as he spun out from behind the right post. ''All I did was tap it in the net. That's one of those lucky bounces, finally ... these are games we have to win.''
Miserably inept on the power play (0 for 8) and porous on the penalty kill (three goals allowed), the Bruins turned what could have been an easy win into a hard night's work. By the 40-minute mark, they already had gone 0 for 6 on the man-advantage. When the night was over, they extended their run of futility to 1 for 34 on the power play.
''Five-on-five,'' said Axelsson, ''we were pretty good. We gave them nothing at even strength. But our penalty killing was bad. We've got to get that going. We're what, 27th or 28th in the league. That's just not good enough.''
A power play that clicks at 1 for 34 also isn't going to carry the Bruins to a playoff spot.
''Yeah, that's a whole different story,'' said Heinze. ''No doubt we've got to get that going because power plays in this league are huge.''
Just ask the Thrashers. They converted on 3 of 6 power plays against the Bruins, in part enabling them to stake a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes. Petr Buzek struck on a bomb at 1:40 of the second for a 1-0 lead. And after Hal Gill pulled the Bruins even, 1-1, with a big swat at 3:31, Nelson Emerson struck on the advantage with 8:55 remaining in the second.
Then came the whipsaw third.
Anson Carter tipped in a DiMaio slapper at 6:35 for the 2-2 equalizer. Emerson, left alone in front while Darren Van Impe went fishing behind the net, banged in the 3-2 lead at 10:15 on a perfect feed by Andrew Brunette. Moments after Carter helped to control a faceoff to the left of ex-UMass-Lowell goalie Scott Fankhouser, Kyle McLaren fired in a long-rang wrister at 11:48, setting the stage for Axelsson's doorstep deposit.
All in all, not a boffo night in the rink for Boston's embattled Black 'n' Gold squad. They finished with a lopsided 28-17 shot advantage and even a mediocre attack on the power play could have set them up for a rare carefree night. But right now, it looks like a squad that will have serious concerns right up to Game No. 82.
''This is a sense of relief, and we're looking at it as something to build on,'' said Carter. ''We hadn't won in a while and we wanted to kick this road trip off right. But we did tie our last three games and now we've won, so we're looking at it as we're undefeated in four and we're building something.''
The power play, said Carter, could be faltering due to the desire to get too cute with the puck.
''I think we're trying to get too fancy,'' he said. ''Instead of, well, just be ugly. Just get it to the defenseman, and he doesn't have to slap it. Look at Kyle tonight, that was a wrist shot he scored on. Let's just get it on net.''
To that point, the Bruins landed 28 shots on Fankhouser, but they also missed with 15, many of those short-range fires that could have turned into quality scoring chances.
But in a season in which they now have won but 15 games, quibbling with the stat sheet isn't a high priority in the Boston room.
''Defensively, we did the job,'' said Heinze. ''This win is a huge relief. We just couldn't find a way to win. And this was a decent, solid 60 minutes. Not the best we've ever had, but the best in a long time.''
This story ran on page C01 of the Boston Globe on 1/20/2000.
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TLANTA - Redemption is delivered in small doses in an 82-game schedule. In a season spiraling out of control, their losses and ties piling high, the Bruins took a teensie-weensie step toward respectability last night with a 4-3 win over the expansionist Atlanta Thrashers.