Old friends and foes taken out

Hackett, Bruins rise to occasion, stop Canadiens

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff 2/7/2003

eff Hackett went out to dinner with some of his former teammates Wednesday night. After practice that day, he lamented that he never had time to tell them how much they meant to him and how much he enjoyed playing with them because the trade on Jan. 23 happened so fast. One day he was there, the next he was gone. So, for closure's sake, he made a point of seeing them and letting them know how he felt.

The tough part was seeing them again last night. Wearing a Bruins sweater but still donned in his Canadiens mask and pads, Hackett faced his former Montreal club at the FleetCenter and acknowledged being a nervous wreck. But he survived the butterflies and the 31-shot barrage on the way to a 6-3 victory.

''It was definitely a long day,'' said Hackett. ''It's just tough when you have been somewhere for so long to play against guys you really respect and really care for. It's a tough day. It was tough on myself and it was tough on [Montreal goalie Jose Theodore] because we are good friends. It was tough on the whole team. I think everyone's happy that it's over with. It was a very emotionally draining game. We both gave up goals we usually wouldn't give up. It's probably a bit to do with what a long day it was. I'm sure Jose was the same way as me. I think now it will be easier on both of us to move on.''

Hackett was tested early in the contest when Glen Murray was whistled off for high-sticking and picked up a double minor only 10 seconds in. Hackett said that actually turned out to be a good thing because the Canadiens had so many chances, it took his mind off the team he was facing.

''I made a few good saves in the beginning of the game when they had the power play and that helped a lot,'' he said. ''You never like to see you give up four minutes right away but looking back in hindsight, I think that helped me.''

The Canadiens took the lead at the 6:04 mark on the first of two goals by former Bruin Mariusz Czerkawski. Forward Oleg Petrov drove down the left side, past rookie defenseman Shaone Morrisonn. He then centered a pass to Czerkawski, who beat Hackett.

Boston pulled even at 8:35. The line of left wing P.J. Axelsson, center Brian Rolston, and Marty Lapointe, separated by injuries at various times this season, turned in their best game of the year as a trio and had chances all night.

Axelsson, with defenseman Andrei Markov chasing him, skated right to left around the Montreal net. He came out in front near the left post and backhanded a wraparound past Theodore for his 10th tally of the season, which ties a career high.

With 1:40 left in the period, Lapointe broke a long scoring drought when he scored just his second goal of the year and first since October. Rolston fired a shot on Theodore from the left circle that the goalie stopped, but Lapointe backhanded in the rebound for his first tally since Oct. 14, giving Boston a 2-1 lead. Having that line -- nicknamed the red line because of the color of their practice jerseys -- up and running provides the Bruins with another set of options and takes the pressure off Joe Thornton and Glen Murray.

''That whole red line played tremendously well,'' said coach Robbie Ftorek. ''They killed penalties, they forechecked, they got some goals, they went to the net. It was really nice to see them back together and playing as well as they did. It's great because we really need the red line to play as well as they have been playing. [Conditioning coach] Johnny Whitesides did a great job getting Marty and Axy back in shape coming off their injuries. They were able to step right in and contribute right away.''

The Bruins wound up with a two-man advantage in the second after Richard Zednik was sent off for holding the stick (Thornton's) at 4:09 and Patrick Traverse followed him to the penalty box on a cross-checking call at 4:28, giving Boston a five-on-three for 1:41.

With Murray in the left circle, Rolston dished a pass across the slot and Murray beat Theodore at 6:08 with one second remaining on the two-man edge for his team-leading 28th. It was the third assist of the game for Rolston.

Czerkawski struck again, though, potting his second of the night. After center Mike Ribeiro skated through the Boston defense, he passed it over to Czerkawski, who roofed it over Hackett at 9:15 and it was a 3-2 game.

Defenseman Nick Boynton increased his team's lead back to a pair of goals early in the third period. At 3:11, he teed up a slapper from behind the blue line on the right side. The puck knuckled and dipped and Theodore couldn't handle it and it ended up in the net for Boynton's fourth of the campaign.

But the pesky Canadiens just wouldn't go away, despite being outplayed much of the contest. Another former Bruin -- this time Joe Juneau -- took advantage of a failed clear by Hackett and pulled the Habs within 4-3 at 7:32.

''One of my booming shots again,'' said Hackett ruefully. ''I had time, the puck rolled, but it flipped over my stick. It's a game of mistakes and I'm human, I make mistakes, too.''

But his teammates chipped in to put it away. Rookie forward Kris Vernarsky gave his team some breathing room with his first NHL goal when he scored on a one-timer from the right circle with 4:03 left. And Thornton closed it out on an empty-netter with 47.7 seconds left.

For the Bruins, it was a relief to get 2 points against a division foe. For Hackett, it was a relief just to have it over with.

''It's tough when you see so many friendly faces who you've gone through a lot with,'' he said. ''Close friends, you know? Guys who when hockey is all over, these are the people you're going to keep in touch with when you're done.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 2/7/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.