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BOSTON BRUINS Page

Game Recaps :January, 2000

1-31-00: L 4-2: at Boston
The Bruins continue to struggle at home as they lost tonight to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Kariya nad Selanne both had 2 goals and 2 assists to give the Ducks the win. Joe Thornton scored his 13th goal of the season, and team leading goal-scorer Anson Carter had his 21st goal in the loss. The Bruins were outshot 25-22 in the game. Kariya's second goal was a floater which beat Dafoe to the glove side...the Bruins are now two points ahead of Pittsburgh for the final playpff berth in the Eastern Conference.

1-29-00: W 1-0: at Boston
Byron Dafoe picked up his 3rd shutout of the season and P.J. Axellson scored the game winner in the second period to give the Bruins their 4th win of the month of January over the Buffalo Sabres. Boston ended a 9 game winless streak at home with the win (0-5-4).Dafoe stopped 20 shots and got his 20th career shutout.

1-24-00: L 4-3 (OT): at Boston
2 Overtime losses in a row for the Bruins, as Joe Murphy and Darren Van Impe each scored powerplay goals. Sergei Samsonov tied it half way through the third period, but Dafoe was unable to play clutch in the overtime, allowing his second overtime goal in two games. However, the goalie did make 33 saves on the night. Boston is now 3-10-5 over their last 18 games!!! It is getting a bit scary if you are a Bruins fan.

1-22-00: L 4-3 (OT): at Florida
The Bruins lost their first game in six when Pavel Bure scored his second goal of the game in overtime. Bruins goals were scored by Marty McSorely, Steve Heinze, and Landon Wilson, all in the second period. Boston posted 39 shots on goal. Dafoe was in net, and looked ok, and although one goal was scored when Dafoewas facing the net, defensively the Bruisn had a few breakdowns.

1-19-00: W 4-2: at Tampa Bay
Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist to help the Bruins with the win over Tampa Bay. Goals were also scored by Marty McSorley(?!?), rookie Andre Savage, and an empty net goal for Rob DiMaio. Dafoe had 26 saves on the night, and the Bruins posted 30 shots on Tampa Bay's netminder, Ken Hodsen. Boston is still struggling on the powerplay, going 0-2 on the night. Savage's goal was scored off a faceoff that Tampa Bay actually won, but the puck went off a defenseman into the TB net. The Bruins have now won two straight, albeit versus lower-ranked teams in the conference. Dafoe is now 11-11-8 on the season.

1-19-00: W 4-3: at Atlanta
P.J. Axellson scored the game winner with 4:17 remaining in the third period to give Coach Pat Burns career win #400. Anson Carter had a goal and 2 assists, and Hal Gill scored the first B's goal of the game. Kyle McLaren scored the tying goal. Boston tallied 28 shots on net, compared to 17 for the Thrashers. This win snaps the Bruins 6 game winless streak (0-3-3.) However, the Bruins went 0 for 8 on the powerplay, which has struggled recently. Sergei Samsonov returned after his knee injury, and Ray Bourque played after taking a puck in the mouth during the Thrashers game at home two days earlier.

1-17-00: T 3-3: at Boston
The Bruins scored three unanswered goals to earn a tie versus the struggling Atlanta Thrashers. Dave Andreychuk made his return from his knee injury, and tied the game on his 18th of the season. The goal came with 30 seconds left in the third period. The game was 3-0 with 7 minutes left in the game, but goals from Kyle McLaren and Joe Thornton within 18 seconds of one another brought the team into tying position. Thornton had assists on the two goals he didn't score. Ray Bourque left late in the first after being struck in the mouth with a slap shot. He lost three teeth and did not return. He is listed as day-to-day. The Bruins are now 1-8-5 in their last fourteen games.

1-15-00: T 2-2: at Montreal

Boston came into Montreal with hopes that the game would be a start of a turnaround for the team, after having diffuclties for all of January so far. They scored first on a goal from P.J. Axellson, and fell behind 2-1 on Montreal power-play goals from Brisebois and Dykhuis. Stave Heinze ited the game with under 6 minutes remianing in the third sending it into overtime, and ecuring a point for the Bruins. Byron Dafoe has played better lately, stopping 30 shots. Jose Theodore made 22 stops for Montreal. The Bruins were without Samsonov and Andreychuk, as well a Jason Allison.

1-13-00: T 0-0: at Boston
The Boston Bruins were without Jason Allison for the second game, and Dave Andreychuk was scratched due to a knee injury. However, the B's were able to obtain a shutout for Byron Dafoe...Joe Murphy was making good plays. Martin Biron made 39 saves, to Dafoe's 23. The Bruins are now 1-8-3 overtheir last twelve, but are looking better all things considered.

1-11-00: L 3-2: at Boston
The Bruins were able t tie the game into the second period at 2-2 off of goals from Steve Heinze and Anson Carter (Carter now leads the team with 18 goals,) but Igor Koralev scored his second goal of the game with a little under 9 minutes left to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Bruins. Jason Allison missed the game due to a tendon injury to his left thumb, and will obtain surgery on it Wednesday. He also requires surgery on his right wrist/forearm, and will likely miss the remainder of the season. The Bruins got 36 shots on goal in this game, compared to the 26 for Toronto. Curtis Joseph was in goal for the Leafs, whereas Rob Tallas got the call for the B's. The Bruins had chances late in the game from Joe Thornton, Anson Carter and Dave Andreychuk, but were unable to score. Dave Andreychuk had to leave the game with an undisclosed injury late in the third period due to a scrum in front of the net.

1-8-00: L 5-2: at Boston
The Bruins are now 1-7-2 in their last 10 games, and 1-6-4 at home in their last 11. Byron dafoe was pulled in the second period,after stopping 22 of 25 shots, replaced by Tallas, who let in one more. The Bruins were outshot 33-32 in the game, and managed only 8 shots throughout the second period. Boston's 2 goals came from Joe Murphy and Anson Carter.

1-6-00: L 7-3: at Boston
Poor defensive zone coverage resulted in the Carolina Hurricanes pummeling Byron Dafoe and the Bruins by a score of 7-3. Bruins goals were scored by Joe Murphy, Anson Carter, and Kyle McLaren. Martin Gelinas more known for his physical play obtained a goal and two assists in the Hurricane's win. Joe Murphy's goal came on the poweplay. The Bruins are 1-6-2 in the last nine games, and their goals allowed per gameduring that stretch is around 3.7+... Carolina had 36 shots on goal while the B's had 33.

1-4-00: W 7-3: at Nassau Colliseum
The Bruins won their first game in 8 outings, having not won since Dec 17th against the Atlanta Thrashers. The New York Islanders threw Roberto Luongo against the Bruins who held the B's to just 1 goal in 2 games. This game, however, ended up being a lesson in humility for the rookie netminder. He let up 7 goals playing the full game. P.J. Axellson and Anson Carter both had two goals, and Joe Thornton, Jason Allison, and Joe Murphy also scored for the Bruins. Dafoe played well, and it seemed that the Bruins were a lot more stable, especially in their own end.Boston had 30 shots on goal, while the Islanders had 24...Hal Gill and Kyle McLaren were the only players to have a negative plus/minus rating, both at -1...

1-1-00: T 2-2: at Boston
The Bruins got two goals from Jason Allison who managed to pull a tie out of a game that featured some good young talent on both teams. Both goals were assisted by Anson Carter. Boston mamaged 25 shots on goal, while the Devils had 33. Dafoe looked good and made good playes when needed, and one of the Devils goals was questionable as to whether the Bruins goaltender was interfered with on the play. Boston is now 0-5-2 in their last seven games...Ray Bourque became the 5th player in NHL history to play in four different decades...

OTHER MONTHLY RECAPS:

News from January

1-28-00
Apparently Pat Burns got a scolding from Bruins owner Jeremy Jacob's who said that the coaching is not what it should be. Apparently Mr. Jacobs thinks the fans deserve better than what they have gotten. Hey, I just thought of something. Why don't you (Mr. Jacobs) open that tight wad there and actually pay some good money for good players? Oh, yeah, that is right. Because you are an idiot. I forgot there for a moment. He should leave Burns alone, it certainly is not his fault that the Bruisn are not winning more games. Injuries and hgoldouts are what have hurt this team all year, and if he is too dumb to realize this, then perhaps he should sell the team and invest in Microsoft.

However Burns was asked about the meeting with Jacobs before the Sabres game and said:

"Jeremy was nice enough to invite all of us to his house for a cookout in Florida and then to have an unnamed source make a stupid comment wasn't very smart," Burns said. "The Jacobs couldn't have been nicer to us than they were. He did not mention anything at that time about being dissatisfied."

Burns also said that he thought that the rumor was started by an angry player(?)

1-27-00
Tonight's game versus the Montreal Canadiens was postponed because of severe weather in Raleigh N.C. The Canadiens were unable to get to Boston in time for the game. It has been re-scheduled for March 2nd.

1-25-00
Things continue to sprial put of control for this Bruins team. Goaltending is not where it needs to be, key players on offense are missing, and defensively the team is playing poorly on the penalty kill, as well as even strength. It is beginning to look as though Sinden might indeed start looking for a new head coach if the Bruins fail to make the playoffs. Which would be terrible because it isn't Burns' fault. But Sinden is a GM that looks for heads to roll when things don't go well.

1-23-00
Jason Allison may wait until after the season to have the tendon surgery on his right forearm. He ehas not made a decision yet, and it will be a few weeks before he can come back from the surgery on his left thumb. He is waiting to make the decision based on the feeling in his arm, and how well or bad the Bruins are doing at that stage. Will be interesting to see if he does come back sooner than expected...

1-19-00
Ray Bourque did indeed play in the away game versus the Atlanta Thrashers, just two days after loosing three teeth and requiring 9 stitches on his upper lip due to a slap shot he took in the mouth. Sergei Samsonov is also back in the roster, after missing almost a month due to a knee injury.

1-17-00
Raymond Bourque took a puck in the mouth and left the game, needing 9 stitches, and emergency dental work due to the loss of three teeth. He is expected tp play on Wednesday versus the Atlanta Thrashers in Atlanta. Sergei Samsonov is also parcticeing and could play on Wednesday. His injury status has been upgraded to day-to-day.

1-13-00
Dave Andreychuk is out with a knee injury, and the same is true of Sergei Samsonov...Joe Hulbig has a groin pull, and Ken Belanger is still suffering from post-concussion syndrome. Langdon Wilson has been called up from Providence, but there are injuries on the farm team roster as well.

1-12-00
First line center Jason Allison will not play the remainder of the season two to the fact that he needs two seperate hand operations (both left and right) and they cannot be done at the same time. His left thumb has tendon damage and was operated on today, whereas his right wrist, which has plagued him all season, also requires tendon replacment. This adds injury to insult, as he Burisn have been unable to consistently win games thorughout Decmeber and January. With the nine game winless streak occuring at the start of this season, the woes of the Bruins have continued to become one of the underachiever stories of the NHL. Coach Burns has said that "at least everyone knows [Allison] won't be there...Guys have to start assuming roles."

1-9-00
Pat Burns says that the recent struggle of the team is due to the fact that there have been many call-ups from the farm team, and that the chemistry is not there. Injuries to Sergei Samsonov, Mikko Eloranta, Joe Hulbig, and in this game Andre Savage, keep the team looking for players to fill in the gaps. He is in no way excusing the performance of the team, but rather trying to give the media something to chew on... Two other factors enter into this dilemma as well, First, the fact that the team is without Tim Taylor makes iteself evident whenver the oppositions number one line is on the ice. Tim Taylor was the Bruins defensive center, and relished in his job of shutting down opponents. There does not seem to be a player able to do this effectively this season. Anson Carter tried it for a little bit, but was not consistent enough for coah Burns, apparently. There is Axellson, but his size seems to hurt him in this role. Secondly, Byron Dafoe is nowhere near the goalie he was the previous two seasons. He has played decently, but not even close to the form he showed last year, especially in the playoffs. And at this point, the Bruins are fighting for the final seed in the conference. With over half the season gone by, it is becoming more and moer evident that this team lacks the confidenceof the previous two seasons. Losses of Ledyard and Ellet, altohugh getting 'long in the tooth' also removed some of the dependibility of the defense in key situations.

1-6-00
Jason Allison's contract was extended another year as Harry Sinden signed the #1 center to a one year extension. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is probable that the offer was for more than 2.6 million dollars. Allison has been playing with a torn tendon through the whole 99-00 season, and will eventually require surgery. The surgery will sideline him for at least three months, so Allison is not quick to having it done. As of late however, he has said that if the pain the day after games does not subside, or at least diminish from it's currrent state, he will have to have the surgery because it is too painful.

1-4-00
I cannot think of anything important to mention here...Oh, yeah. Harry Sinden flew to New Jersey (on New Year's Day) to personally assure coach Pat Burns that his job was not in jeopardy. Apparently, a local Boston newspaper stated that Burns was close to being fired, an absolutely ridiculous statement to make unfoundedly, and Sinden wanted to personally assure players and coaching staff alike that this was an untrue allegation. Thank God...

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