Bruins evict Les Habitants

After a trio of games where the team appeared to have shaken their offensive blahs, the Boston Bruins returned home to host the Montreal Canadiens in late night Monday action.

While the offensive woes appeared to have returned to the halls haunted by Orr, Esposito and Company - granted, none of whom are dead yet - the defense returned between the pipes with a resurgent Andrew Raycroft, who earned his second win of the season in a 2-1 victory over Les Habs.

A very quiet first period saw only a fight between Sean Brown and Brad Stuart - deemed a draw by the officials - and a subsequent boarding call which gave the Canadiens a power play, effectively killed by the Bruins. Signs of trouble abounded, though, as the Habs outshot the hometown team by more than a two-to-one margin, sixteen to seven.

The second period was almost as quiet - penalty free and few shots at the net. This time, though, Brian Rolston's shot at 11:28 found its way past Marty Brodeur on the high stick side to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

Between the periods, Robbie Ftorek saw Raycroft was nervously fidgeting. Having been benched three games, Raycroft knew his Boston future rode in no small part on this third period. Ftorek, being an incompetent boob, gave him no words of support. Raycroft was a mess of nerves when he skated out for the third period, spilling gatorade all over himself just before the puck dropped.

His worst fears came rushing back as Vincent Damphousse charged the net at the four-and-a-half minute mark, backhanding the puck by a sprawled out Raycroft to tie the game. It was, as Yogi Berra said, deja vu all over again. The Canadiens, sensing a weakness, began to attack the net more, but Raycroft gained confidence with each deflection to hold strong.

At 10:28, Brad Stuart was whistled for his second penalty of the night, a double minor highsticking call. The Bruins power play too to the ice, and managed to not screw it up this time.

With their insipid inspirational leader preaching words of wisdom - including "Shoot!", "Score!", "Go!", and "He's Open!" - the Bruins attacked the goal repeatedly. Three and a half minutes after the penalty call, Jochan Hecht went five hole on Brodeur, who was leaning left in anticipation of Hecht's normal wide shot. Hecht's goal ended up being the game winner as Raycroft and the defense shut down the Habs woeful attacks the remainder of the game.

An amazing 11,630 showed up for the game, surpassing the average draw for the Bruins this season and far exceeding recent attendance.

The Bruins now have two days off before their face-off with the San Jose Sharks, who have actually scored more goals than the Bruins have allowed.