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BRUINS 4, KINGS 4 Goal by Kovalenko earns a tie with LA
[ Game summary ]
What Guerin promised to bring was leadership, grit, and scoring touch. Last night, he delivered on all those things as Boston rallied from deficits of 1-0, 3-2, and 4-3 to earn a 4-4 tie with the Los Angeles Kings at the FleetCenter.
Never was Guerin's influence more important than with 4:31 left in regulation when the Kings went ahead, 4-3, on a goal that was accidentally directed in off the skate of forward Dixon Ward, who had contributed one goal and two assists to Boston's attack and played center instead of his usual wing.
''That's when Guerin made a comment to the team,'' said coach Mike Keenan. ''That's when you have to have a leader take that kind of responsibility. He was very verbal on the bench and made it well known we had plenty of time.''
Guerin's message? No need to panic. The Bruins didn't and they scored the tying goal with 3:21 remaining in the third period with Andrei Kovalenko scoring his second of the contest.
''Billy really made his presence felt on the bench and certainly on the ice,'' said Keenan. ''He played with authority. He played a lot of minutes and the fact that Jason Allison even played showed some leadership, that was a tough assignment with the ice time he was given. He did a good job for us.''
The Bruins had their work cut out for them against the talented Kings, especially considering they were missing their No. 2 center - Joe Thornton - who was sidelined because of a charley horse in his right leg and Allison was playing with a wrenched back. Allison decided after the warmup to play but never looked very comfortable.
The Kings opened the scoring at 4:14 of the first with wizard Ziggy Palffy picking up his first of two. Palffy, a shifty right wing who is among the most amazing players in the sport, scored on a shot the way only very few players could. Palffy skated the puck down the left circle and, with goalie Peter Skudra defending the left post, found a tiny opening in the top left corner.
Ward tied it at 6:13. Kovalenko, who was struck in the face by an errant puck during warmups, came up big on his sixth goal of the season to give Boston a 2-1 lead at 9:21.
Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky turned over the puck in the neutral zone and Ward punched it up for Kovalenko, who snapped a shot past goalie Jamie Storr. The lead didn't last very long as Palffy worked his magic again. At 14:28, Visnovsky relayed the puck to Palffy in the right circle. Palffy's low shot got between Skudra's legs to make it 2-2.
Los Angeles regained the lead at the 14:32 mark of the middle period on a power-play goal by former Bruin Jozef Stumpel. But the resilient Bruins roared back on Guerin's third goal as a Bruin and 15th of the season just four seconds after a Boston power play had expired. Ward, who picked up his third point of the night, delivered the puck to defenseman Paul Coffey. He made a smooth backhand pass from the right circle to Guerin, who was charging the net. Guerin rapped a shot past Storr and it was all even again at the 18-minute mark. It was the first time Ward had three points in a game since Jan. 2, 1999 when he had two goals and an assist for Buffalo against the Calgary Flames.
It looked like curtains when Luc Robitaille banked a wraparound shot off Ward's skate.
''He was really down about having that puck deflect in off his skate,'' said Keenan. ''Only a guy like Luc Robitaille can do that. It reminds me of Gretzky. We used to comment what a lucky goal that was, but you know darn well he was banking it off somebody. He spent most of his days in a pool hall probably. Dixon played a pretty good game for us.''
There were many who contributed and one key was Guerin, who demonstrated the accountability Keenan has been preaching.
''Even when Billy came in, he was very reserved in his comments out of respect for his teammates,'' said Keenan. ''He didn't know the lay of the land. He sat back more often than not. I asked him [last night] to step up and assume some responsibility, not that he didn't want it, but out of respect for his teammates, he was observing and trying to find out [what] the dynamics of the group happened to be before he got totally involved in it.''
Guerin said part of it had to do with becoming comfortable with a new role and team.
''I think I'm just coming around to being myself again,'' said Guerin. ''I think everybody did a great job of not letting that goal affect us in any way. I think as a team we responded well. I think it shows a lot of character and a commitment of guys in our dressing room, that we're not going to give up.''
This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on 11/27/2000.
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hen Bill Guerin arrived from Edmonton in a trade for Anson Carter, he wasn't wearing an `S' on his chest, he wasn't being touted as the next 50-goal scorer, he wasn't going to be the player who turned the Bruins' franchise around.