« Catch-up 11/10 | Main | Marty's back, but I'm not. »
November 11, 2005
Boston-Ottawa
Hi again. Lazy me.
Allen Panzeri (2nd star): Dany Heatley had two goals, while Bryan Smolinski, Peter Schaefer (shorthanded), and Martin Havlat had one each. Havlat now has seven goals in four games since returning from his five-game suspension for kicking the Bruins' Hal Gill.
"After the first period we had, we were lucky to get the win," Havlat said. "It was a bad, bad period, one of the worst we've played this year. We were lucky we scored the first goal because they were the better team after it."
On a breakaway, Havlat had Raycroft beat, but his backhander hit the post. Schaefer, right in Havlat's jet stream, got the puck as it bounced off the post, and knocked it in.
Three minutes later, Havlat stepped around an impotent poke check by Andrew Alberts, moved into the slot, and beat Raycroft with a wrist shot.
Bruce Garrioch: Senators winger Martin Havlat, playing against the Bruins for the first time since being suspended for kicking defenceman Hal Gill on Oct. 15 in Ottawa, had a goal and an assist.
"That was the worst first period we played all year," said Havlat. "(Hasek) kept us in the game and then we were able to get it going. We started scoring and we started creating chances."
Breaking in on odd-man rush with Schaefer, Havlat was allowed to dipsy-doodle through the zone and fire it by Raycroft to give the Senators a three-goal lead at 9:46 of the third period.
It was Havlat who helped set up Schaefer's second of the season. After Havlat hit the post on a clear breakaway, Schaefer was following in behind to deposit the puck into a wide-open net.
Bruce Garrioch, on Gill: Hal Gill wasn't planning on attacking Martin Havlat last night.
"(The media guy) wants you to say you're going to stick him in the face," Bruins defenceman Kevin Dallman said to Gill as he sat down beside the towering defenceman in the Boston dressing room yesterday.
"I'm going to stick him in the face," said Gill with a smile.
The 6-foot-7, 240-lb. Gill was playing Havlat last night for the first time since being kicked in the groin by the Senator on Oct. 15 at the Corel Centre -- an incident which the Bruin claims he has put behind him.
"It's not like I was hurt from the kick and I was out for two months," said Gill. "I wasn't injured so I don't see any need for an apology for what happened. I might have been upset if everything wasn't intact in (the groin) area ... everything is intact."
Adblock
However, Gill said he was pleased to see the league hand Havlat a five-game suspension -- resulting in a loss of $66,000 US in salary -- for the kick, which wasn't penalized by officials.
"He lost his money and I was glad to see that," said Gill. "Quite frankly, he got what he deserved and the fact that he's back, I don't really care about it. I'm not really thinking about that stuff."
Allen Panzeri in the Citizen, on Gill: "I really didn't even think about it then," Gill said yesterday morning. "It would have been nice if a penalty had been called on the play, but it's tough for the referees to see everything.
"I'm not here to hand out discipline, though. That's up to the league."
Gill said he was satisfied with the five-game suspension Havlat got and considered the matter over.
Besides, as Gill noted, it's not the first time he has been kicked.
"It happens a lot," he said. "You hit a guy, he falls back and his feet go up. For it to be intentional, that's different, but it does happen a lot (unintentionally)."
Havlat said that, though he apologized to his teammates, he wouldn't apologize to Gill.
Here's a news flash: Gill wasn't waiting for one.
"I don't really care," he said.
"That was a long time ago. He was the one who lost the money, and that's the game."
Posted by jz at November 11, 2005 02:58 PM