McLaren was in thick of things

Following a nasty holdout, McLaren was traded to the Sharks Jan. 23, 2003, for promising defenseman Jeff Jillson and goalie Jeff Hackett, who is now with the Philadelphia Flyers. McLaren played one game against the Bruins in San Jose last season, a 3-2 Sharks win in March, but last night marked his FleetCenter debut wearing blue and white instead of black and gold.

"It was fun. It was exciting," he said. "I was a little nervous at the start of the game, but it all worked out all right. We got a point, though I thought we played well enough to win. We can't give up 50-plus shots, though, that puts too much on our goalie [Vesa Toskala]. I'm glad the first one here is over. Before, I'd be at home and hanging out with my friends. Now, I go to the hotel, and we're back out on the road."

McLaren contributed an assist on a first-period goal by Scott Thornton. More importantly, he was involved in two of the biggest plays of the game. He and Sergei Samsonov both went after the puck, a battle Samsonov won when he scored the tying goal with 13.4 seconds left. Then, McLaren had what appeared to be an open pass from the left side to Thornton, lined up in front, as time ticked away in the overtime, only to see Bruins defenseman Nick Boynton dive full-length to sweep the puck away.

"Me and Sammy hit the puck together, but he popped it in," said McLaren. "I got caught a little bit out of position. I was watching the back door, and I left Sammy in front. If you leave Sammy in front, he's going to snipe it in. On the other play, to tell you the truth, I ran out of gas. I tried to pass it over to Thornton, but Boynton came out of nowhere. He saved them the game at that point."

The Sharks have a quick offensive unit that made the most of its opportunities, and McLaren thinks the West Coast club has a bright future.

"It's a different style than we played in Boston," he said. "We like to play an up-tempo style. It's a faster game, and, when we play an Eastern team, you see how different it is. We should have had the 2 points whether they outplayed us or not. But we're getting better. We're a strong, young team. There's been a lot of changes since last year, and we're expecting to win."

So, McLaren and his mates escaped town with an improbable tie in the only regular-season meeting between the teams. "I got a good night's sleep last night, and I slept well again in the afternoon," concluded McLaren. "But I am glad to have this one behind me now, and it will feel different the next time I come in here. I would have enjoyed it more had we not given up a goal in the last seconds of the game, but those are the breaks. This is a good team. It's right there for us."