Showing sharp edges, Bruins improve to 3-0

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 10/9/2001

o Bill Guerin? No problem.

Facing a Jaromir Jagr-led offense? No worries.

Losing defenseman Kyle McLaren (strained chest muscle) for more than a period? Unfortunate, but likely short-term.

The Bruins matched their best start - 3-0 - since the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season with a 4-0 victory over the Washington Capitals at the FleetCenter yesterday.

Jagr, who made the most ballyhooed address change this summer when he was dealt to the Capitals from Pittsburgh, did a very convincing imitation of the Invisible Man.

Defenseman Hal Gill, who has an uncanny ability to bottle up Jagr, helped deny any points to the player who led the league in scoring last season. Jagr played 24 minutes 6 seconds over 21 shifts, finishing with four shots and nothing to show for them.

Byron Dafoe made 22 saves and earned his 23d career shutout and his 100th win in a Boston uniform.

The Bruins' team defense was very effective, killing all seven of the Capitals' power plays, including two five-on-threes. In three games, the Bruins have killed off all 16 of their shorthanded situations.

As well as Boston played, it's likely that Washington won't play this bad a game the rest of the year.

"We all know what they did to Jersey the other night," said Dafoe, referring to the Capitals' season-opening victory. "That's a pretty good hockey team over there.

"Jagr, I know he played, but he didn't get a lot of chances, and that's a credit to our team defensively. Basically, we weren't allowing them to get into the zone. We were doing a great job of holding the line. Five on three, they didn't get a chance to set up and throw it around. Our penalty killing is a very important part of being a good team, and we're definitely doing what we have to do right now."

Offensively, the Bruins made it look easy. They took advantage of their terrific speed and took even greater advantage of the Capitals' rash of foolish penalties. Right wing Martin Lapointe, who moved up to the No. 1 line with Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov because of Guerin's three-game suspension for a hit on Atlanta's Patrik Stefan Saturday, tallied his first goal of the season when he converted a Thornton feed at 14:40 of the first period.

Samsonov made it 2-0 at 5:32 of the second on the man-advantage, and Thornton added a power-play goal at 6:45. The line combined for 6 points (three goals), with Thornton earning 3 points. Right wing Mike Knuble closed out the scoring at 5:13 of the third.

On the other side, Washington coach Ron Wilson experimented in an effort to get Jagr and Peter Bondra going, but nothing worked. Gill said he enjoys trying to foil Jagr, arguably the game's best player.

"I frustrate him a lot because I'm big and I get in the way," said Gill. "I think he has a hard time with that, but it takes a whole team effort. Nick Boynton played real well against him, too. All the defense, we held the line real well and that's what you have to do to beat him. You take away his time and space and if he doesn't get any shots, we've done our job."

Part of that job is verbal. Gill said he yaps at Jagr in an effort to get him off his game. Jagr responded with a jab to Gill's jaw.

"It wasn't a punch," said Gill. "He was trying to sucker me into a penalty. I asked him if he was going to be a tough guy this year. He gets frustrated and sometimes we make a little small talk, just so he knows I'm there and I get annoying to him. I get in his face as much as possible. I just tell him it's good to see him again, things like that."

Whatever the method, it worked and worked for the entire team. Coach Robbie Ftorek said he didn't make many defensive changes to accommodate the Capitals.

"Hal knows his responsibilities and he seems to be doing a good job," said Ftorek. "It's nothing we taught him. He just seems to have a nice relationship with Jagr and they work hard together. That's been going on for a while. Hal did a good job against him and the other players were supportive in coming back. Jagr will have his day as well, but [this time] we were fortunate to get the best of it. It was a really solid effort by everybody."

The performance of Thornton also was inspired. The young center was effective not only in the attacking zone but in the other two as well.

"The last game he didn't backcheck real well; tonight he was one of the best backcheckers we had," said Ftorek. "There's growth right there and that's an important thing. Joe's always going to give you scoring chances and he's always going to be effective offensively. Some nights he's going to win you faceoffs, other nights not as many. If we can get him to bear down on them, he's going to win more, and that's a process, along with every other player."

Now they're 3-0, and off they go on a six-game road trip as the process continues.

"It beats 2-1 all to heck," said Ftorek. "It's great. But the important thing is, what are we going to do against Minnesota?"

This story ran on page F1 of the Boston Globe on 10/9/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.