Bruins Comeback, Beat Rangers 4-2

BOSTON - Rookies Hal Gill and Sergei Samsonov and 19-year veteran Ray Bourque scored third-period goals as the Boston Bruins overcame a 2-0 deficit and beat the New York Rangers 4-2 Saturday.

The Rangers seemed poised to break a streak of three consecutive ties with a victory after Darren Langdon and Brian Leetch scored in the first period. And they led 2-1 after two periods.

Gill tied the game with his second goal of the season just 32 seconds into the third period.

Bourque, who had been in a slump of his own with no goals in 19 games, got his ninth at 14:05.

The Bruins, just 1-4 in their previous five games, had drawn within 2-1 when Jason Allison got his 19th goal on a power play with 22 seconds left in the first period. It came eight seconds after the Bruins failed to score with a two-man advantage lasting 1:11.

Boston outshot New York 31-17, and goalie Byron Dafoe was outstanding after being beaten by Langdon's second goal of the season 46 seconds into the game.

The Bruins' three goals in the third period all came on opportunistic plays. Gill and Bourque scored from the point after getting the puck from centers who won faceoffs.

Joe Thornton started the tiebreaking play when he intercepted a pass by Pat LaFontaine, who tried to get the puck from his left point to the right. That started a 2-on-1 break with Samsonov, the eighth choice in last year's draft. The only defender was Leetch, who had missed the previous two games with a nerve compression in his right leg, ending a streak of 346 games played.

Thornton skated up the right side and held the puck until he drew goalie Mike Richter out of the net, then passed across the crease where Samsonov scored in the open left side for his 10th goal.

Bourque added the insurance goal on a high shot from the right point after Mike Sullivan won the faceoff in the right circle. Gill's goal came after Tim Taylor won the faceoff in the left circle.

Langdon, who had no goals in his first 45 games this season, got his second in as many games. Leetch scored his 13th on a power play at 14:36 of the first period on a pass from Lafontaine.