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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Boston's first victory of the season turned
out to be a brilliant, painful experience for Bruins goalie Byron
Dafoe.
|  | | Boston's Andrei Kovalenko fires a shot past Flyers goalie Brian Boucher in the first period. |
Joe Thornton scored two goals and Dafoe stopped 27 shots before
being lifted with a pulled left hamstring with 8:30 left as the
Boston Bruins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on Saturday
night.
"I felt a little pop in the last minute of the second period,"
Dafoe said. "It's nothing major and it doesn't feel that bad, but
you never know. I didn't have to come off, but why push it. It was
more preventive medicine."
Dafoe was also shaken up when he was hit by Keith Primeau's
stick in the first minute of the third period. He was replaced
later in the period by Andrew Raycroft, who made four saves in his
first NHL appearance.
"I actually stepped into Primeau's stick," Dafoe explained.
"The only pain I felt was my pride."
Dafoe's best saves came midway through the first period when he
denied Daymond Langkow's short-handed breakaway attempt, and early
in the second period when he fell backward on top of a bullet from
the crease by Primeau.
Andrei Kovalenko, Brian Rolston and Sergei Samsonov also scored
and Jason Allison added four assists for the Bruins, who snapped a
five game winless streak (0-4-1) against the Flyers.
"As a line, we were as crisp as I've ever seen," said
Thornton, who added two assists to record the first four-point game
of his career.
"It seemed like we had a lot of open room out there and that
made things a lot easier," added Thornton about Rolston and
Allison, who helped the line combine for nine points.
Primeau, who scored Philadelphia's only goal on a power play at
10:21 of the second period, said the game was a good, early-season
wake-up call for the Flyers, who reached the Eastern Conference
finals.
"We realize that what we accomplished last year has no bearing
on what happens this year," Primeau said. "Teams are going to be
prepared to play us because of what we did. We have to understand
to win hockey games we have to play harder. Tonight they beat us to
loose pucks and their special teams beat our special teams and
ultimately it ended up costing us two points."
Boston jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period.
Thornton converted a wrist shot from the crease at 1:49 and then
fed Kovalenko, who scored from the doorstep with 1 second
remaining on a two-man Bruins' advantage.
Rolston put a slap shot through Philadelphia defenseman Andy
Delmore's legs at 13:46, and Samsonov poked in his own rebound to
make it 4-0 at 6:12 of the second period.
Thornton added his second goal at 2:14 of the third period to
chase Philadelphia goalie Brian Boucher.
"No excuses," said Boucher, who stopped only 14 of 19 shots.
"The bottom line is that I didn't do my job out there. I felt
pretty good before the game. It's tough. Some nights it just
doesn't go your way."
Game notes
The Bruins last beat the Flyers on April 3, 1999. ...
Boston's last win in Philadelphia was Dec. 3, 1997. ... Defenseman
Darren Van Impe played in his 300th game for the Bruins. ... Boston
defenseman Paul Coffey, who bruised his left shoulder in the
Bruins' tie with Ottawa on Thursday, was scratched. ... Boucher,
the first NHL rookie in 50 years to finish with a
goal-against average under 2.00 (1.95) last season, has allowed
eight goals in his first two games. ... John LeClair also assisted
on Primeau's goal for his 500th career point with the Flyers.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Rangers 2
Atlanta 1
Buffalo 5
Los Angeles 3
Washington 3
Carolina 3
Ottawa 3
Dallas 1
Boston 5
Philadelphia 1
Toronto 2
Montreal 0
Chicago 5
Columbus 3
Colorado 1
Edmonton 1
Phoenix 4
Minnesota 1
Pittsburgh 3
Nashville 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Brian Rolston scores on a nice pass from Jason Allison.
avi: 506k k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Sergei Samsonov pushes the puck past Brian Boucher.
avi: 559 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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