BRUINS NOTES.

Byline: Bud Barth

COLUMN: BRUINS NOTES

BOSTON - Though they've cleaned up much of the penalty mess that followed them last season, the Bruins haven't quite escaped all the consequences of their indiscretions.

Penalties, and the resulting enemy power plays, have hurt Boston badly, especially in the four games prior to last night's showdown with the conference-leading Ottawa Senators at the Garden.

Seven of the last 10 goals given up by the Bruins have come on the power play, and four of the last five power-play goals have been the result of hooking penalties - the bane of every NHL coach because they're often the byproduct of laziness on defense.

Overall this season, the Bruins have done a good job of staying out of the penalty box compared to last year. Going into last night's game, they had been short-handed only 49 times - fewest in the league. Last season, they were short-handed 442 times, more than all but three teams, and they surrendered 81 power-play goals (only six teams gave up more).

And yet so far this season, 13 of the 30 goals allowed by Boston (43 percent) have come with the team short-handed. The culprit has been some pretty soft penalty-killing (73.5 percent), which ranks the B's 27th in the 30-team NHL.

The loss of center Patrice Bergeron, one of the team's best penalty-killers, didn't help matters on Saturday night when Ottawa scored all three of its goals on the power play in a 3-2 win.

"There's no doubt we miss him when it comes to the penalty kill," Bruins coach Claude Julien said before last night's game, "but even the guys we've had doing the job, when you look back at the tapes, it's just a little adjustment here, a little adjustment there, to prevent those goals.

"It becomes a situation of wanting to win those battles. When you know you're a man short, you have to win those battles, you have to make sure you get the puck out. It's about commitment, it's about desperation."

Meanwhile, the Bruins have had a league-low 48 power plays themselves, scoring on only nine of them, which puts them in the middle of the pack at 18.8 percent.

It's a disparity they'll have to clear up soon if they're serious about being a contender.

Nokelainen replaces Krejci

The Bruins yesterday called up center/right wing Petteri Nokelainen, the player they acquired from the New York Islanders during training camp, from the AHL's Providence Bruins. To make room, the B's sent down rookie center David Krejci, who was 0-3-3 and a minus-3 in 12 games for Boston.

The move is aimed at bringing more grit to the fourth line, as well as a bit more scoring punch. Nokelainen, 21, one of the last three players cut from training camp, was 3-5-8 in eight games for the Baby Bears.

Julien acknowledged that Krejci's game "has slipped a little bit" recently, but stressed the demotion wasn't a death sentence.

"We certainly haven't given up on him," Julien said. "It may not sound good, but sometimes it's the best thing for the player."

Nokelainen, who played the power play and killed penalties in Providence, took Krejci's place last night centering the fourth line. He wore No. 56.

"I hope," Nokelainen said before the game, "I can bring some fresh air and new energy."

Allen in uniform

The lineup was tweaked for the Bruins' second game in 24 hours. With defenseman Andrew Ference nursing what was called an "upper core injury," Bobby Allen suited up for just his second game. Left wing Jeremy Reich, meanwhile, made his season debut while rookie Milan Lucic watched in street clothes.

NAME: BOSTON BRUINS

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Bruins goalie Tim Thomas deflects a shot as Ottawa's Chris Neil looks for a rebound.

PHOTOG: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS