Bad bounce ends Bruins' win streak

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 1/1/2002

ALLAS - Joe Nieuwendyk teed up a slap shot from the blue line and scored with 6:36 remaining in regulation, lifting the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Bruins last night, ending Boston's winning streak at five games.

For the Bruins, it was a disappointing end to an impressive December. With only rookie defenseman Nick Boynton between him and Byron Dafoe, Nieuwendyk blasted a rising shot that hit the goaltender's glove and went over him and into the net.

Boston finished the month with a record of 8-4-0-2.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere provided by the fans, who were in a celebratory mood given the occasion (New Year's Eve). Or perhaps it had to do with the fact that they had dropped their past two contests. Whatever the reason, the Stars came out flying.

The Stars outshot the Bruins, 11-7, in the first period, and many of their bids were excellent. But Dafoe, back in the net after a one-game break, stopped all but one, and that came on the power play.

With defenseman Sean O'Donnell off for slashing, the Stars cashed in. Center Pierre Turgeon, on the right side, relayed a pass to Martin Rucinsky in the middle. Rucinsky, in turn, dished a backhander over to left wing Jere Lehtinen in the left circle. Lehtinen's shot eluded Dafoe at 16:07 and the Stars were up, 1-0.

The Stars had a chance for more when O'Donnell got whistled off on a double minor for high sticking. But the Bruins actually turned the shorthanded situation into a great scoring opportunity with 47.3 seconds left in the period. Right wing Glen Murray, who had a couple of good chances early in the game, won a foot race to the puck and skated it up the left side. Left wing Rob Zamuner was charging down the slot and Murray threaded it across to him. But goaltender Marty Turco turned it back.

Most of the period was owned by Dallas, which at times had Dafoe under siege with pucks coming from everywhere. Jamie Langenbrunner had three shots in the opening 20 minutes and eight other Stars tried to beat the netminder, but Dafoe held fast and kept his teammates in it.

The Bruins rallied to tie it in the middle period on Brian Rolston's league-leading sixth shorthanded strike of the year. With defenseman Jarno Kultanen off for high sticking center Mike Modano, left wing P.J. Axelsson sent Rolston off to the races with a lead pass and the speedy forward raced down the slot and beat Turco with a backhander. It was Rolston's 20th goal of the year, four shy of his career high.

It was the 10th shorthanded goal of the season for Boston, tying the New York Islanders for tops in the NHL.

The best scoring chance for Boston in the rest of the period was another Rolston one. At 17:19, with Zamuner off for tripping, Rolston took off to the net all by himself. Defenseman Derian Hatcher, who had no chance of catching him, instead hooked him from behind. Then defenseman Richard Matvichuk joined him in the penalty box at 18:23, giving Boston a two-man advantage for 59 seconds. But the Bruins couldn't convert and they went into the third period deadlocked at 1-1.

The Bruins put on the heat early in the third as Murray and center Joe Thornton had a two-on-one. Murray made the pass to Thornton but his shot was knocked away by Turco.

At 8:53, Langenbrunner had another terrific bid when he skated down the slot and tried to beat Dafoe at the right post with a forehand shot. Dafoe, who moved from the left side of the crease to the right, used his glove to keep it out.

With time running out, the Bruins had a tailor-made chance to tie it when they went on the power play with 1:13 left. Dafoe went to the bench with a minute remaining, giving the Bruins a six-on-four advantage, but despite some chances, they fell short.

This story ran on page F1 of the Boston Globe on 1/1/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.