head coach: Pat Burns

roster: C - Anson Carter, Dimitri Khristich, Joe Thornton, Ted Donato, Tim Taylor, Shawn Bates, Robert Lang. LW - Ken Baumgartner, Rob Dimaio, Sergei Samsonov, Jason Allison, Mike Sullivan. RW - Steve Heinze, Landon Wilson, Per Johan Axelsson, Kirk Nielson. D - Ray Bourque, Don Sweeney, Dave Ellett, Kyle McLaren, Dean Chynoweth, Mattias Timander, Dean Malkoc, Hal Gill. G - Byron Dafoe, Jim Carey.

injuries: Steve Heinze, rw (fractured ankle, indefinite); Dean Chynoweth, d (hamstring, day-to-day); Kyle McLaren, d (hip pointer, day-to-day).

transactions: Hal Gill d, Dean Chynoweth d, Kirk Nielson rw, called up from Providence (AHL). Robert Lang claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh, Jeff Odgers released (contract bought out), Landon Wilson sent to Providence (AHL).

standings:

Eastern Conference - Northeast Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Boston       15   9   5   1    19   41   35
Ottawa       15   8   4   3    19   47   36
Montreal     14   8   4   2    18   44   30
Pittsburgh   16   8   6   2    18   47   44
Buffalo      14   5   7   2    12   35   45
Carolina     15   4   8   3    11   38   47

game results:

10/21 at Edmonton     W 2-1
10/23 Tampa Bay       T 2-2
10/25 Florida         L 5-4
10/30 Anaheim         L 3-0
11/1  Edmonton        W 3-1
11/2  at Ottawa       W 3-1

team news:

by Matt Brown, Boston Correspondent

The Bruins continue to surprise fans in unpredictable ways. The team that finished last season deader than dead last is now tied for first in the Eastern Conference with (!!!) Ottawa. Well, the Flyers have 19 points too, but fewer wins than Boston's nine. Only Detroit and St. Louis have won more games this season.

The western road trip ended up an amazing 6-2-0 with a win over Edmonton. The young team seemed to gel on the road, playing tight defense and getting enough scoring to carry them.

Psychic Friends Hockey Hotline

On the other side of unpredictable, the Bruins last week tied a previously listless Lightning at home, lost to Florida, another struggling bunch, at the unfriendly Fleetcenter, and then played more like decoys than Bruins, getting quacked out by the Ducks, again at home. Last year, this was par for course, but this year fans have had their expectations set higher. The 12 new faces, the new coaching staff, and a new attitude in the front office have fan hopes up. Of course, a 12-point road trip doesn't hurt. But Jim Carey continues to struggle at home in Boston. When Dafoe loses, he has looked good in the effert. Not so with Carey, who seems to catch every rut, bump, deflection, and bad defensive play that occurs on Fleetcenter ice.

So after going 0-2-1 at home, the Bruins finally won a second game at the Fleetcenter, sending the Oilers packing with a 3-1 win. The following night they beat the suddenly formidable Ottawa Senators 3-1 to claim a piece of first place.

We're All Bruins on this Bus

The troubles at the Fleet have been so severe that one of the jokes around the team was that they will be riding a bus to home games so that they'll play like a road game. Sorry, all it will take is one stanza of every game's "Here we go Bruins, here we go." by that ultra-lame animated Smokey Bear up on the Jumbotron to remind the team that there is no place like home (thank God).

On the road, by contrast, the goaltending was all you could ask for, leaving some of the Boston press, accustomed to using Bruin goaltenders as their personal whipping boys, with only Joe Thornton (referred to so far as the "pointless" Bruin) as an easy target.

Slow-point Joe

Joe Thornton seems to be adjusting slowly to the NHL pace. The grace of his skating and moves is evident, but the ploys that dazzled in Junior just don't fool NHL players. A couple of healthy scratches courtesy of coach Pat Burns haven't shaken Thornton loose yet. Of course, playing him on a fourth line with offensively-challenged guys like Ken Baumgartner isn't the best way to increase his point totals. Then again, perhaps there is a method to the madness, since Burns is taking the pressure off Thornton this way by not setting league leader expectations of the kid on the part of fans, teammates, and Joe Thornton himself. Certainly, the liberating effect of a winning record has made this easier for Burns to pull off.

Thornton's performance reminds one of the difficulty Alexandre Daigle had his first year, but the difference is the level of expectation. Daigle was expected to be the Senator's instant savior, and flunked that course. Looking back, one might think that such intense pressure retarded his progress. It is little wonder that Thornton has a contract that rewards him for putting up Daigle-like rookie numbers, without laying that kind of pressure on him.

The Bruins have stated that they expect to keep Thornton in Boston for the full season, flaunting the press predictions that he would be sent back to the Soo. However, he is currently perched on the 10-game fence -- one more game appearance, and he is subject to first year NHL pro waiver rules, whereas the Bruins could send him back to Junior and retain his rights if he does not play another game. Small wonder he was held out of Sunday night's Ottawa game. The argument in favor of keeping Joe up in Beantown has been that he already outclasses his Junior league, and has nothing but bad habits to learn there. Ironically, the rule that was established to protect young players actually hurts Joe Thornton, because what he needs is pro game time, but he can't go to the AHL to get it, and playing another game for the Bruins ties their hands -- they have to keep him all season or risk losing him. So the only answer seems to be what Pat Burns has chosen - throw the kid out on the ice to learn, and when he doesn't seem to be getting it, use the NHL equivalent of a rolled-up newspaper on a puppy dog's nose, the healthy scratch, to drive the point home.

Of course, all of this thoughtful support for Joe Thornton was just a setup for pointing out that goaltender Byron Dafoe is actually outscoring the Bruin's number one draft choice. Byron got an assist on Ted Donato's empty-net goal against Ottawa on Sunday night. So Dafoe has one point in ten games, while Thornton has none in ten.

Not to be overlooked is that Dafoe has started three games straight, knocking Jim Carey out of the rotation Burns was using. Dafoe has played very well in response, losing to the Ducks but putting the hurt on Edmonton and Ottawa.

Hard Luck Hienze

Some guys have all the luck, none of it good. Steve Heinze, after coming back from extensive surgery and recuperation to start the season, first wrecks one ankle, then the other. During Steve's first game back after the ankle injurry, he stopped a slapper with his other ankle and ended up with a fracture.

Running on Empty

If Tim Taylor keeps it up, his nickname will become "Empty Net Taylor." The league doesn't keep this stat, at least not publically, but Tim Taylor just has to lead the NHL with four empty-net goals in 15 games. Four of Taylor's seven scores are ENG. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. The big story is not that Taylor is a garbage collector, but that the Bruins have been in position to get so empty-net goals already this season. On Taylor's latest, he sent a soft "I don't want it" pass to P.J. Axelsson so that the deserving Swedish rookie could slightly improve his horrific 2.9 shooting percentage just slightly. Axelsson, not to be outclassed, tapped a "you can have it" back to Taylor. It was a good thing that Taylor hadn't begun to celebrate too soon by raising his stick in the air, or he would have missed the shot. P.J.'s gesture was extremely unselfish, and it exemplifies the team attitude this Bruins team exudes. But look for Taylor to try to get his next goal the hard way.

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