Knuble drought comes to an end

Bruins winger Mike Knuble hasn't scored since Dec. 11 and before last night, he hadn't had an assist since Dec. 13. The veteran admits he's marred in one of the worst slumps of his career, but he continues to find ways to contribute even as his minutes have slowly decreased.

Knuble put Boston in position to win last night, collecting a pair of assists that helped put the Bruins in front, 3-1, early in the third period before the visiting Islanders rallied to salvage a 3-3 tie at the FleetCenter.

With his assists, Knuble ended a nine-game streak in which he was held without a point. He also edged closer to a career milestone: He needs four assists to reach 100. And the team clearly needs offense from Knuble: The Bruins are 11-2-2-2 in games which Knuble records a point.

Knuble, who looked sharp at the start of the season, appeared more like the Knuble of old last night. With the game knotted at 1, he helped the Bruins regain the lead by assisting on a Patrice Bergeron power-play goal in the second period.

``[Brian Rolston] threw it toward the net and I knocked it down,'' said Knuble. ``It was floating so I picked it out of the air and passed it to Bergeron who pounded it in there.''

Knuble came up with another heads-up play early in the third period. He forced the Islanders to turn the puck over just outside their own zone then fed Sandy McCarthy, who uncorked a rocket past goalie Garth Snow from the top of the circle for a 3-1 advantage.

``They were kicking the puck around and we wanted to skate at them and pressure them,'' said Knuble. ``I popped the puck free and gave it up to Sandy who took a great shot.''

The Bruins then started nursing the two-goal advantage and the Islanders made them pay by scoring a pair of third-period goals four minutes apart.

``We've been chasing teams so much this year that we're really not used to playing with the lead,'' said Knuble. ``We had our chances but we were sloppy and turned it over too much.''

Knuble had been averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time before his slump and his time dwindled to less than 16 minutes in Thursday's victory over Toronto. Last night he logged two shots on net in 18:17.

Knuble (plus-6 for the season) is second only to Hal Gill on the team in plus/minus and his effort is not lost on coach Mike Sullivan.

``He's a real honest, hard-working player and I think he creates opportunities for himself and his linemates,'' said Sullivan. ``Even if he doesn't end up on the scoring sheet, he makes contributions all over the rink.''

Knuble is trying not to get caught up in the slump and has been working harder defensivley to compensate.

``I'm not going to change the way I play,'' said Knuble. ``I have faith no matter who I'm playing with and now that I'm not always skating with the other team's top checking line, I'm hoping to get more opportunities.''