Knot to be denied

Bruins showing skill at drawing

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 2/27/2000

PITTSBURGH - Their chances of playing beyond April 9 are slim, and their roster is full of triage extras from ''ER'' and ''Chicago Hope,'' but the Bruins wrapped up an uplifting weekend here last night with a 2-2 tie against the Penguins that chipped them an inch or two closer to the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

There was Friday night's 3-0 win over the Capitals in Washington, perhaps Boston's best 60 minutes of the season. Here, their skating was noticeably slower and their shot total sliced in half, but it was a respectable tie - a league-high No. 17 this season - that enabled the Bruins to capture 3 of 4 available points in a span of 48 hours.

''We're trying to be much more positive,'' said veteran defenseman Don Sweeney, who had a key assist on Sergei Samsonov's first-period goal that provided a 1-0 lead. ''No question we are playing better. The guys certainly care about what's going on here, and we're trying to get the job done.''

Enhancing their lifted spirits was the look of the out-of-town scoreboard. Camped in 12th place when the night began, the Bruins looked up late in the third period and saw that the Rangers, Sabres, and Canadiens all had lost. If they could have beaten the Penguins, it would have been one giant step toward getting back into respectable position. The tie was a baby step, but an important one.

''Three of 4 points, on back-to-back nights,'' said team captain Ray Bourque. ''It wasn't easy [against the Penguins]. But 3 out of 4, with the traveling ... hey, we battled, and it wasn't our best game, but we got some help with the teams ahead of us that lost. Not bad.''

When they pulled into D.C. Thursday night, all of North America was still abuzz over the two-handed stick clobbering Marty McSorley had dealt Donald Brashear Monday night in Vancouver. They had lost that night to the Canucks, and also two nights later to the Edmonton Oilers. Two more losses, especially if they had been as dispiriting as the flattenings north of the border, could have effectively ended their season.

But with better legs and the fine netminding of rookie John Grahame, who has secured the No. 1 goalie job unless Messrs. Byron Dafoe and Rob Tallas show up with the jaws of life, they at least propped themselves up enough to make this week's Fleet matches with Ottawa, Montreal, and Philadelphia something more than post-''Disney on Ice'' exhibitions.

''We're what now, a point behind Montreal and Buffalo?'' said head coach Pat Burns. ''This is going to be a critical week for us. We have to be ready.''

Last night, for the third straight game, the Bruins managed to pop in the first goal. Like on Friday night vs. the Capitals, it was Samsonov who delivered the lead, connecting on a left circle wrister after Sweeney feathered over a soft relay. It was only the second time this season that Samsonov has connected for goals in back-to-back games - the other time being in mid-December.

The Penguins pulled even, 1-1, when Pat Falloon connected with 13:37 gone in the second. When Tyler Wright banged one home for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead early in the third, the drop in Boston's emotions was palpable.

''In the second period, we backed off,'' said Burns, who implemented a new game plan on the run in the second half, a change to a slightly more aggressive forecheck that eventually paid dividends. ''I was back there, practically on my knees, pleading with 'em, `Keep pressin', keep pressin'.'''

Cameron Mann, who had also assisted on Samsonov's goal, had the point-saving equalizer at 4:15 of the third, potting a short forehander after Jean-Sebastien Aubin first turned away a Shawn Bates doorstep backhander.

Grahame finished with 32 saves, seven more than Aubin, and 6-8 were sparkling stops, especially his block of a Hans Jonsson shot with 35 seconds left in OT. On a 3-point weekend, Grahame was probably responsible for 2.

''Hey, if he keeps us in it like that, we can battle,'' said Burns. ''And if not, well, we don't have the firepower. It's that feeling you get, `C'mon, guys, he'll keep us in there, just go out there and get one.'''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 2/27/2000.
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