[ Game summary ]

By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 3/10/2002

he jury is instructed to dismiss the second period. The middle 20 minutes? Never happened. Whatever transgressions the Bruins committed, none can be held against the defendants in the black-and-gold uniforms. We will now proceed.

Now that's more like it. Backed by goals from Rob Zamuner and Marty McInnis in the first period, and then saved by Sergei Samsonov's game-breaker/winner with only 2:31 remaining in regulation, the Bruins topped the Calgary Flames, 3-2, last night at the FleetCenter.

The victory, their second in as many nights, kept the Bruins atop the Northeast Division. More important, it provided them with that little bounce in their skating stride that mysteriously disappeared over the Olympic break.

Are they back? That remains to be seen. But for most of last night, they at least appeared to be back on track.

''By far our best game since the break,'' agreed Samsonov, who potted the winner with a short, high lift past Flames netminder Roman Turek. ''We were solid right from the beginning. It was more like a playoff game, really, all the guys showed up and were ready to play.''

To wit: The Bruins decidedly controlled play in the first, with Zamuner finishing off a neat two-on-one break with Brian Rolston at 7:39, followed by McInnis, the ex-BC Eagle, cashing in his first on Causeway as a Bruin just under six minutes later. If the Bruins had been able to keep up that pace, the bull gang could have taken possession of the floor around 8:30 p.m. to begin their ritualistic conversion.

But something happened between the first and second periods. Again, the jury is cautioned to disregard what it is about to hear. Held back by legs suddenly turned to lead, the Bruins stood around for the period and watched the Flames race back to tie on goals by Marc Savard and Jarome Iginla, the league's leading scorer.

Savard nailed in a one-timer off a Chris Clark feed from the rear board at 11:39. Iginla wheeled from behind the net into the right faceoff circle and swept a low, hard backhander through goalie Byron Dafoe's pads with 20.1 seconds left on the clock. Tied, 2-2.

''Really nice to see you guys after the third period,'' noted coach Robbie Ftorek in his opening comments to the media after the win, ''and not after the second.''

What ailed his discharged charges?

''It had to do with guys thinking they may have been tired,'' offered Ftorek.

And perhaps they were. After all, it was Boston's third game in four nights. The Bruins didn't land at Hanscom until around 2 a.m. yesterday following a 3-0 win over the Thrashers in Atlanta. They had reasons to claim fatigue, but none that found Ftorek's ear.

''If you put the shirt on, you go play,'' said Ftorek, exposing some of the old-school threads he wears under those tailored suits. ''Hey, if you can't go out, say you can't go out - it's OK, skip a shift - or go short. But every team goes through what we went through, and you just have to suck it up, that's all. It's what the Bruins are about - you go out and play.''

Whether they were refreshed, revived, or just plain shaken from their reverie, the Bruins returned with a strong third and were able to survive a key penalty situation in which they were two men short for 1:03 - McInnis whistled off at 13:52, followed by Hal Gill at 14:49. An excellent job of penalty killing allowed the Flames only two shots, and provided the springboard for Samsonov's winner.

''That was the turning point,'' said Dafoe, who did some sensational work in the final minute, turning back Iginla and Derek Morris. ''The PK did a great job killing that.''

Finally, it was Samsonov, after Jozef Stumpel left him a loose puck, who cut in from the left circle and lifted a doorstep laser over the towering Turek's shoulder. It ended a three-game goal-scoring drought for the Russian Pocket Rocket and gave the Bruins their 34th win of the season.

''We know Joe's out and he can't be replaced,'' said Rolston, referring to the injured Joe Thornton. ''But everybody's stepped it up, and we have the depth to win hockey games - there may be a few teams that have this kind of depth, but not many.''

Let the record show that only 16 games remain in the Bruins' regular season. Over the next month, one or two teams a week will be eliminated from playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins now have 80 points, and a .625 winning percentage down the stretch would bring them their first 100-point season since 1992-93. If they can steer clear of some of those second periods that didn't happen last night, they might just get there.

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 3/10/2002.
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