Wednesday, Feb. 21 10:00pm ET
Bourque, Avs' defense get a chance to rest
RECAP
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BOX SCORE
DENVER (AP) -- The Boston Bruins sure could have used Ray Bourque
on defense. Some decent goaltending would have helped, too.
|  | | Ray Bourque, left, wasn't afraid to mix it up with his former teammates. |
Bourque, who spent more than two decades in Boston, had two assists in his first game against his former team as the Colorado Avalanche scored seven straight goals in an 8-2 victory over the Bruins on Wednesday night.
After the game, the Avalanche got more good news, completing a
trade with the Los Angeles Kings for another top defenseman Rob
Blake. Colorado gave up forward Adam Deadmarsh, defenseman Aaron
Miller, a first round pick in the 2001 draft, a prospect to be named and other future considerations.
Deadmarsh scored twice in his final game with Colorado, and Peter Forsberg had two goals and two assists to ensure Bourque
emerged victorious against the only team he knew for the better
part of 21 seasons.
"It was tough earlier today," Bourque said, "but once I got
to the rink, it was fine. It was a little different, but not
much."
Bourque, hoping to win his first Stanley Cup, requested a trade
last spring and was appeased when Boston sent him to Colorado on
March 6.
Adding Blake only enhances the Avalanche's chances at a title.
They are the NHL's top team with 87 points and seem to be building
momentum with 21 games remaining. Since a 4-1 loss to Ottawa last
Thursday, Colorado has scored 18 goals in three games.
The latest barrage came at the expense of Boston goalies Peter
Skoudra (six goals on 26 shots) and John Grahame (two goals on four
shots).
"They both really struggled," Boston coach Mike Keenan said.
"There's no sense hiding behind anything. They both had a real
tough night. You can't win in this league without goaltending and
you certainly aren't going to beat Colorado without goaltending."
Bourque got his first assist on Milan Hejduk's goal that gave
Colorado a 4-2 lead at 12:12 of the second and he helped set up Joe
Sakic's goal 6:18 later. Forsberg capped a four-goal flurry when he
beat Grahame with a wrist shot with less than a second left in the
period.
Alex Tanguay's 24th goal of the season sparked the blowout
midway through the second, breaking a 2-2 tie.
The easy victory was a nice finish to a game that Bourque had
been anticipating since the NHL schedule was released.
"He was at the rink very early," Colorado coach Bob Hartley
said. "He's always early, but he was earlier than usual. You can't
imagine what was going through Ray's head. It had to be pretty
special."
More important than facing Bourque, the Bruins lost their third
straight and fell one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the
eighth Eastern Conference playoff spot.
"We were prepared to play and we just lost our focus," Boston
forward Bill Guerin said. "They've got the type of team where if
you make a mistake, they're going to make you pay for it. The
floodgates opened and we just seemed to lose confidence."
Because of Bourque's desire to remain near the East Coast, his
trade to the Avalanche was surprising, but he affirmed his
affection for Colorado by signing a one-year contract shortly after
the team was eliminated in the Western Conference finals.
It took only five seconds for Bourque to trade shoves with Jason
Allison, the player who took over as Boston's captain after
Bourque's departure, but he made no major impact in an otherwise
active first period.
Boston's Shawn Bates and Forsberg traded goals 10 seconds apart
and the Bruins regained the lead on Joe Thornton's short breakaway
at 7:23. The Avalanche tied it during a power play when Deadmarsh
deflected Chris Drury's slap shot from the slot 4:14 later.
Drury finished with three assists.
Game notes
Ten current Bruins never played with Bourque. ... Forsberg
has six assists and four goals in the last three games. ... Sakic
leads the NHL with 83 points, four more than Jaromir Jagr. ...
Guerin, the MVP of the All-Star game in Denver on Feb. 4, did not
have a point. ... The Bruins dropped to 1-3 on their six-game road
trip. ... Martin Skoula scored Colorado's final goal, the first by
an Avalanche defenseman in 10 games. ... Earlier Wednesday, the
Bruins traded D Patrick Traverse to Montreal for D Eric Weinrich.
... Bourque hit the post with a shot in the third.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Colorado Clubhouse
Avs acquire Blake from Kings to bolster title hopes
Trade breakdown: Blake to Colorado
RECAPS
Carolina 6
Atlanta 3
Pittsburgh 3
Florida 2
Washington 2
Nashville 1
Vancouver 2
Montreal 1
Detroit 7
Chicago 3
Dallas 6
Minnesota 2
Phoenix 3
Columbus 2
Colorado 8
Boston 2
Anaheim 1
San Jose 0
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Milan Hejduk's second period goal sends Peter Skudra to an early shower.
avi: 1001 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
With .5 seconds remaining Peter Forsberg adds another second period goal.
avi: 1527 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Shawn Bates gets the Bruins on the board early in the first period.
avi: 942 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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