BOSTON -- The tattoo on the Marty Lapointe's right shoulder tells the whole story.
It's there that the Boston Bruins' assistant captain sports a drawing of a discolored bulldog chewing on a hockey stick, which pretty much sums up the 5-foot-11, 209-pounder's game.
The right wing lives for annoying the opposition, especially goaltenders. Last night he continued his rampage around the goalmouth and helped the Bruins stretch their streak without a regulation loss to 11 games with a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals at the FleetCenter.
Boston is now 11-2-3-3 on the season and has earned at least a point in every game since an Oct. 23 loss to Carolina. During that stretch the Bruins are 7-0-1-3.
Lapointe's power-play goal at 11:37 of the third period proved to be the game-winner. His tally was his fourth of the season, all of which have come on the man-advantage.
"He creates a lot of havoc," Boston coach Mike Sullivan said of Lapointe. "He makes it difficult on the opposing team's goaltender because of his presence in front of the net. It opens up room for other guys to make plays, and he's getting rewarded because he's right there for the rebounds."
But it's not when he's scoring goals as much as it is how he's
putting the puck in the net for the black and gold.
Last night's goal was a perfect example.
Boston was on its fourth power play of the game and Patrice Bergeron had control of the puck in the corner. Camped out in front of the net stood Lapointe.
Bergeron worked his way out of the corner and fed Lapointe, who had two defenders crawling on his back. Still, Lapointe was able to chip the puck past Capitals goaltender Olaf Kolzig for the eventual game-winning goal.
Goals were few and far between last season for the hard-hitting, hard-nosed Lapointe. In 59 games he scored only eight while assisting on 10 others. This year, he's finding the net with much more frequency.
Lapointe "deserves it, that's for sure," said Boston netminder Andrew Raycroft. "I think last year was a bit of an aberration. He had some injuries and he couldn't get going. Everyone knows he not that player [he was last season]. Everyone knows what he means to everyone in here. He deserves every goal he's getting."
Being the bulldog-type in front of the net drives goaltenders insane, and Raycroft should know. Luckily, he only has to deal with Lapointe during practices.
"You don't like those guys at all," said Raycroft. "I tell these guys all the time that anytime there's someone in front of the net, even if he's not doing anything and he's not whacking you, or getting in your way, it's just a little annoying having someone there."
Lapointe is constantly screening goaltenders or putting his stick in someone's way. It generally takes two defenders to move him out of the way.
"He has a low center of gravity and he's so strong," said Raycroft. "I haven't seen or played against anyone stronger."
The Bruins were certainly the stronger team last night, and they showed it by jumping out to an early lead.
Sullivan has talked at length about the importance of scoring the first goal and last night Boston proved him right. Just 5:17 in, Mike Knuble tipped Hal Gill's shot from the blue line, recovered his own rebound and slipped it past Kolzig.
The Bruins added to their lead at 13:01 when Glen Murray took a cross-ice pass from Joe Thornton, moved into the offensive zone and, with the puck on its edge, fired a knuckling slap shot past Kolzig.
The Capitals chipped away at the two-goal lead when they got the puck to bounce their way at 18:34 of the second period. Jaromir Jagr, who Raycroft had stoned four times prior, had his shot deflect off Boston defenseman Nick Boynton and into the net.
Lapointe scored his fourth of the season on the power play at 11:37 of the third period to give the Bruins a 3-1 advantage.
Washington wouldn't go away quietly and scored its only power-play goal of the game at 14:00. Sergei Gonchar's slapper from the point knuckled past Raycroft, who barely got his glove on it. That's as close as the Capitals could get.
Lapointe's numbers may not jump out at you on the score sheet, but his wild play in front of the opposition's net has jump-started the Bruins this season.
Said Lapointe: "I like to get in front of goalies and mix it up a little bit."
The Bruins wouldn't have it any other way.
Washington -- 0-1-1 -- 2
Boston -- 2-0-1 -- 3
First period: 1, Boston, Knuble 9 (Gill, Moran), 5:17. 2, Boston, Murray 7 (Thornton, Knuble), 13:01. Penalties -- Halpern, Was 8:34; Axelsson, Bos 16:17; Eminger, Was 16:17.
Second period: 3, Washington, Jagr 6 (Miller), 18:34. Penalties -- Moran, Bos :25; Axelsson, Bos 5:56; Lang, Was 7:40; Battaglia, Was 12:35.
Third period: 4, Boston, Lapointe 4 (Bergeron, Samsonov), 11:37 (pp). 5, Washington, Gonchar 2 (Lang, Jagr), 14:00 (pp). Penalties -- Doig, Was 9:38; Moran, Bos 13:34.
Shots: Washington 10-9-3 -- 22. Boston 12-7-6 -- 25. Power plays: Washington 1 of 3; Boston 1 of 4. Goalies: Washington, Kolzig 5-12-1 (25 shots-22 saves). Boston, Raycroft 7-2-1 (22-20). A: 14,211 (17,565). T -- 2:07.
