Bruins are put on ice

There's lack of fire in loss to Coyotes

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 10/17/99

PHOENIX -- When the Bruins headed west on their six-game sojourn, they knew every game was going to be difficult. That certainly has proven to be true.

The Bruins were playing their third game in four nights and it showed as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Phoenix Coyotes last night at America West Arena.

It was just the latest in a long line of disappointments this season as Boston fell to 0-5-3, 0-2-1 on the trip.

The Bruins' lineup has been like the finger in the proverbial dike. If they plug one hole, another opens. When some players are going well, such as Jason Allison and Dave Andreychuk, too many others aren't.

"It's uncalled for,'' said defenseman Kyle McLaren. "We can't do that.''

McLaren said there's not enough desperation in the dressing room.

"Certain guys need to pick it up,'' he said. "Without mentioning any names, I think they know who they are. Everybody knows what they have to do on the ice and if they're not doing their jobs, something is wrong. The 20 guys we put out there are not working together for 60 minutes. There are lapses in their games and it's costing us.''

The game didn't start well for the Bruins. They spent the first period back on their heels and pinned in their own end, thanks to relentless pressure by the Coyotes.

Phoenix outshot Boston, 14-4, in the first 20 minutes and, if it hadn't been for goalie John Grahame, who got the start over Rob Tallas, it's likely the Bruins would have been in a deep hole.

At one point, nearly 13 minutes into the game, the Coyotes had a 12-2 shot advantage and the Bruins couldn't get anything going.

Coyotes captain Keith Tkachuk, who was a force all night, had a golden chance at the eight-minute mark when he drove in from the right circle, but Grahame made the stop.

The Coyotes continued to dominate at the start of the middle period, though the Bruins picked up their play in the late going. Joe Thornton had a terrific opportunity when he took a lead pass from Sergei Samsonov and charged up the left wing. He drilled a shot, but goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov, who is handling the netminding duties during Nikolai Khabibulin's contract dispute, blocked it with his pads.

At 15:01, the Bruins started to get their offense in gear. Allison had a breakaway on the right side. He tested Shtalenkov with a forehand shot from in tight that was headed for the top right corner, but the goalie snared it with his glove.

The Bruins broke through on the power play at 15:59. Allison, behind the net, skated toward the right post, stopped, took a stride the other way and passed to Andreychuk, who banged it past Shtalenkov at the left post for the 1-0 lead.

That prosperity lasted for exactly 1 minute 9 seconds before the Coyotes tied it on a goal by Tkachuk. The Medford native, who barreled all over the ice, earned his second goal of the season at 17:08. Travis Green flipped a backhand pass from the right boards to Dallas Drake in the right circle. Drake relayed it right to Tkachuk, who fired an offspeed shot that caught Grahame off guard.

"I thought he fanned on it a bit,'' said Grahame. "I thought it was going to be a rocket, so I overplayed it. I was kind of out and it went underneath my arm.''

The Bruins' fortunes only got worse early in the third period when the Coyotes went ahead, 2-1, at 1:08.

Tkachuk set it up, backhanding a pass from the right circle past defenseman Darren Van Impe and right to Green, who rapped it past Grahame.

"We have to go out there and perform,'' said McLaren, clearly frustrated. "If we're not performing, something has to be changed or looked at.''