Blues chased away as Bruins win soundly

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 1/31/2001

ne night, it's Mikko Eloranta. Another night, it's Dixon Ward.

Last night, it was P.J. Axelsson.

The Bruins' role players have been as instrumental as the stars in the club's recent success.

With a convincing 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at the FleetCenter last night, the Bruins have won four in a row and eight of their last 11.

The wispy but durable Axelsson, who went into the contest with three goals in 50 games, potted Nos. 4 and 5 and added an assist for the third 3-point game of his career and first since March 1998.

Left wing Sergei Samsonov, who had a pair of goals against New Jersey on Saturday, added a goal and an assist.

Coach Mike Keenan said he wanted more offense from Axelsson, who has been considered a checking wing for most of his 31/2 seasons. Answering his coach's challenge, Axelsson has two goals and two assists in the last two games.

''If I could get that every time I mention it, there'd be a roll call here every night,'' said Keenan. ''I was happy to see him get it because he's worked for that production. He's certainly a very intelligent player and a very strong positional player. He's been getting his chances because of his ability to read the play. He can step in and intercept a lot of passes. He's been able to do that and finally cash in on some of his shots.''

The Bruins were aided by the fact that the Blues were missing several key players because of injuries, including All-Star blue liners Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis. In addition, the Blues were coming off a hard-fought victory at home over Toronto Monday.

But if the Blues were looking for sympathy, they weren't getting any from the Bruins, who have had more than their share of ailments and heartaches.

By the end of the first period, the Bruins had a 3-0 lead, and they never looked back. Samsonov put Boston on the board at 6:52 with his 21st goal.

Samsonov skated the puck into the left circle, pulled up, then fired a shot that banked off the skate of defenseman Vladimir Chebaturkin past netminder Brent Johnson.

The Bruins' next two goals came just over two minutes apart late in the period. Brian Rolston, who has been playing some of his best hockey lately at center instead of his customary wing position, made it a two-goal cushion at 17:34 with his ninth of the season. Rolston teed up a slapper from just inside the blue line and it rocketed off the right post and into the net.

With just 10.3 seconds remaining in the period, center Jason Allison, who had some glorious scoring chances of his own, set up Axelsson. Allison, positioned along the right boards, drove down and outmuscled defenseman Bryce Salvador (who later left the game with blurred vision and motion sickness). Allison cut through the circle and dished the puck to Axelsson in the slot. The puck went off Axelsson's right skate and he kicked it forward, put it on his stick, and beat Johnson.

Blues coach Joel Quenneville decided between periods to change goalies, and Roman Turek was installed to start the second. This was the first start since Jan. 15 for Johnson, who had been hobbled by a sore knee. The league's top-ranked goalie gave up three goals on 11 shots.

St. Louis scored its only goal at the 13:21 mark of the second as a result of a fluky bounce.

Right wing Jamal Mayers skated out from behind the net and tried a wraparound at the right post. The puck ricocheted off Byron Dafoe and into the net.

But Boston bounced back when right wing Bill Guerin scored his first goal in seven games - his 27th of the season - at 18:05. Center Joe Thornton fed Samsonov from behind the net and Turek made the stop. But the rebound went to Guerin, who tapped the bouncing puck into the cage.

Axelsson sealed it in the third when he took advantage of a turnover by St. Louis center Pierre Turgeon and beat Turek on an unassisted strike at 11:45.

''We definitely dominated the game,'' said Dafoe, who had 27 saves. ''We came out in the first period and established that we were ready to play.

''We're not going to get too high on this win. They had some serious guys out of the lineup and plus they played [Monday]. I was just impressed with the way we came out. The game wasn't over after the first period but it was pretty darn close. We just dominated from there.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 1/31/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.