|
 |
| |||
 | |||
|
| | |
BRUINS 5, PENGUINS 2 Thornton steals show, setting up Bruins' win [ Game summary ]
Just another run-of-the-mill Mario Lemieux kind of night, right?
Wrong.
All of that last night was the dazzling domain of Joe Thornton, whose career-high four assists - three of them setting up Andrei Kovalenko's third-period natural hat trick - paced the Bruins to an emotionally-charged 5-2 victory over Lemieux's Penguins before a sellout crowd of 17,565 at the Vault.
''I've seen Joe play like that in spurts in his career,'' said Boston netminder Byron Dafoe, who stood his ground in the second period when Martin Straka failed to score on a penalty shot. ''When he's like that, hey, he's definitely a force to be reckoned with. When he's like that, he can be a dominant player in this league.''
On a night that was expected to be Lemieux's triumphant return to FleetStreet, it was the Thornton-Kovalenko-Sergei Samsonov line that stole the show. Lemieux still scored twice, and he looked every bit the Icon Redux he has been since cutting short his retirement a couple of weeks ago, trading in his owner's three-piece suit and repossessing center stage in the NHL.
For a night, though, Mario Magnifique took a back seat to Jumbo Joe and his two revved-up Russian wingers. The trio finished with 4 goals, 7 assists, and 11 points.
All three of Kovalenko's third-period strikes were set up by Thornton. The Tank scored his first at 1:09 for the 3-1 lead, his second at 3:09 to make it 4-1, and his third on a wing-to-wing relay from Thornton that set him up for the bullet from above the right circle that provided the 5-2 finishing touch.
''The first one, I thought, `Oh, good,' because I hadn't scored in seven games - too long,'' said Kovalenko, who has 13 goals this season. ''The second one, I thought, `Uh-oh, that's much better.' We got the 4-1 lead. And the third one, Joe made a great pass, and I think, `Oh-oh, that's the second hat trick of my career.' But most important, we won.''
In a season full of too many ''uh-ohs'' and very few ''oh-good''s, the Bruins put together their best 60 minutes yet. Jason Allison and Bill Guerin, Boston's top scorers, had the task of trying to shut down the Lemieux-Jaromir Jagr-Jan Hrdina trio. With Andrei Nazarov alongside, they got the job done. A two-goal night for Lemieux is still a neat bit of defensive work.
''Allison's line was in a checking role,'' said Bruins coach Mike Keenan. ''Then it was up to Thornton's line to outscore the next line.'' Mission accomplished.
The Penguins looked a little tired after playing the night before in Washington. The Bruins had the fresher legs and hotter hands. The No. 2 Pittsburgh line of Robert Lang, Alexei Kovalev, and Straka had only 1 point (a Lang assist on Lemieux's first goal). Boston won the battle of second lines, 11-1.
Straka also failed to convert his penalty shot with 12:32 gone in the second, when the score stood at 1-1. Hauled down in the corner to Dafoe's right by Patrick Traverse, Straka was awarded the free chance from center ice. He closed to between the circles and snapped off a wrister that clanged off the left post.
''Of course it hit me,'' kidded Dafoe, whose record improved to 6-7-5. ''Hey, it hit the post - that's part of my equipment - so I'll take a save for that.''
After Lemieux scored his power-play goal in the first, Samsonov offset it when Thornton, curling out of the right corner, set him up with a bullet pass. Brandon Smith, called up earlier in the day to fill in for injured Darren Van Impe, then put the Bruins ahead, 2-1, when he nailed a one-time slapper to end the Bruins' 0-for-36 power-play skid. Thornton won the faceoff that set up that goal, but he wasn't credited with a helper.
''Joe played with authority out there,'' said Keenan, who had publicly challenged Thornton Monday, saying there were now ''no excuses'' for him not developing into an elite player. ''His speed was the biggest difference, and he made some great passes.''
On the setup for Kovalenko's third goal, Thornton made a cross-ice pass with Keenan suggesting from the bench that he simply dump the puck in.
''He saw Kovalenko was wide open,'' said Keenan. ''That's great vision.''
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 1/10/2001.
|
he big, strapping center collected four assists, was on the ice for every one of his team's goals, and played with the authority and passion you might expect from the first pick in the draft.