By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 3/20/2000

PHILADELPHIA - The math is just that now, stark numbers, ugly reminders, quantifying and categorizing what has been Boston's worst season on ice in the post-Orr era.

The Bruins sank to a dismal 11 games below .500 here yesterday with an error-packed 6-2 loss to the Flyers, a defeat that guaranteed they will finish the 1999-2000 season below .500 - the second time in four seasons they have failed to break even.

As all Bruinsologists know, it also will be the second time since 1966-67 that the Hub's once-proud hockey team has crashed below that invisible line of NHL mediocrity. Ten games to go. Eleven games below .500. Nothing to do now but wait for the season ender April 9 when the Bruins will line up on the Vault's ice after the game and give away their game-worn sweaters.

It is a season best called finished.

''We haven't had that for a little while,'' said Bruins defenseman Don Sweeney, pointing to the breakdowns that scuttled Boston's brief 2-1 lead yesterday. ''We haven't had those spurts, those breakdowns, and we've been able to score some goals. But those breakdowns showed up again, and it hurt us.''

Loss No. 33 was rooted in the same trouble spots that have grown all too evident over recent months. Lack of talent, size, and experience. Costly boo-boos. Soft goaltending. The Bruins parried fairly well against the big, burly Flyers for the first 30 minutes, but it all came crashing down when Keith Jones and Simon Gagne struck for goals on back-to-back shots in a span of only 31 seconds.

The Gagne strike, which broke a 2-2 deadlock, was a Keystone Kops collectible. The Bruins were standing in dismay after their dump-in attempt on left wing carried behind the net and ringed all the way around the boards, leaving the speedy Gagne with a breakout from the neutral zone. Jets on, Gagne blew past Kyle McLaren in the neutral zone, was too fast for Brandon Smith to catch, and then scored on a deep-angle shot from the left circle. It was one of two or three stops rookie John Grahame should have made, and clearly the most costly.

Boston coach Pat Burns, who rarely calls timeout, had to signal for the 30-second break after witnessing the assorted blunders that led to Gagne's goal.

''Yeah, we stopped playing there for about 30 seconds,'' said Burns, whose squad won three of four games in the wake of captain Ray Bourque's departure. ''We just weren't skating there, for about 30 seconds, and it cost us. We had a good game going to that point. [The Flyers] were sleeping, and we should have let 'em sleep.''

The third period brought another lightning strike that resulted in a pair of Philly goals, in a span of only 15 seconds this time. John LeClair potted the first, walking in off the boards during a power play at 0:57. Daymond Langkow was next, swinging out from behind the net and sweeping in an ugly backhander as he fell in the slot. Grahame looked bad on both, losing LeClair's shot between his legs and then unnecessarily dropping in the crease when Langkow swung into the middle, rodeo style, with Mikko Eloranta riding on his back.

''He played pretty good last night,'' said Burns, referring to Grahame's stellar performance Saturday in a 3-2 win over the Penguins. ''He gave up a couple of bad ones here, but I don't think that hurt that much.''

Rarely is a loss just one blunder, one bad goal, one defensive lapse, and that indeed was not what happened here before a sellout crowd of 19,742 at the First Union Center. The difference was, first and foremost, the talent of the two squads. The Flyers are not a great team, especially without their megaton captain, Eric Lindros (out with a concussion). But they are bigger, stronger, and more talented than the Bruins, who are, at best, a hybrid in progress - a collection of small wannabes, many of whom may have to give back their Boston ''B'' for a Providence ''P'' next season.

''We were hanging on for a little bit there,'' said Burns, who began this season hoping to conduct a symphony and now is left with an ensemble of ash can and gutbucket players. ''I think size and skill took over a little bit out there.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 3/20/2000.
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