Saturday, Jan. 27 7:00pm ET
Samsonov scores twice in Bruins' victory
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BOX SCORE
BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Bruins seem to be turning the corner.
Three straight convincing wins can make a team feel that way.
|  | | The Devils' Petr Sykora, left, taps a loose puck into the net past a diving Byron Dafoe. |
Sergei Samsonov scored two goals, including the winner 1:14
into overtime, to lift Boston to a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey
Devils on Saturday night.
The Bruins' winning streak follows a 3-2 loss to the Florida
Panthers, the team with the fewest victories in the NHL.
"These are the teams we have to start trying to catch," Bruins
goalie Byron Dafoe said. "We went into a slump and the loss Monday
to the Panthers hurt, but we responded by getting right back into
the playoff race."
The Devils, who blew a late 3-2 lead, lost back-to-back games
for the first time since Dec. 7-9.
Samsonov scored his 20th goal of the season when he converted
Joe Thornton's pass from behind the net and slid the puck through
Martin Brodeur's pads.
"After playing three years in the NHL, I finally came to
realize that it is not just talent, but effort in each game,"
Samsonov said.
The Bruins tied it 3-3 with 4:22 remaining in regulation when
Samsonov spun defenseman Brian Rafalski around in front of the net,
and slid the puck past Brodeur.
The Bruins erased three deficits.
"It is not like us to give up 42 shots on net," Brodeur said.
"They scored goals within a foot of me and that means they were
working hard and were in our face the whole game."
Jason Arnott gave the Devils a 3-2 lead when he slid the puck
past Dafoe at 5:28 of the third.
The Devils took a 1-0 lead when Petr Sykora rebounded Mike
Commodore's slap shot and flipped a shot over Dafoe as he was
falling to the ice at 13:18 of the first.
Sykora has four goals and four assists in his last five games.
The Bruins tied it with a shorthanded goal by Thornton at
18:36. Thornton trailed Brian Rolston on a breakaway and after
Brodeur made the initial save, he flipped the puck past him for his
16th goal.
New Jersey regained the lead when Sergei Brylin came out of the
penalty box and beat Dafoe on a breakaway at 15:21 of the second
period.
Just over a minute later, Dixon Ward scored on a rebound of
Mikko Eloranta's shot to tie it 2-2.
Alexander Mogilny, New Jersey's leading scorer, had his
three-game goal-scoring streak snapped and was held scoreless for
only the third time in the last 11 games.
Scott Niedermayer had two assists for the Devils, who are 4-2-3
in their last nine games in Boston.
"Boston was taking advantage of our guys in a lot of
situations," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "They played last
night and we should have taken advantage of that."
Kyle McLaren had two assists for the Bruins.
Game notes
Arnott played in his 500th NHL game for the Devils. ...
Bruins defenseman Don Sweeney is day-to-day with a hyperextended knee. ...
The Bruins are 9-2-1 against Atlantic Division opponents, while the
Devils are 3-6-1 against the Northeast Division. ... New Jersey has
the top-ranked power play in the NHL. ... Dafoe has a career record
of 3-8-3 against the Devils.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 4
Carolina 3
Montreal 4
Washington 2
Minnesota 4
Los Angeles 1
Boston 4
New Jersey 3
Buffalo 2
NY Islanders 1
Toronto 3
NY Rangers 1
Columbus 2
Anaheim 1
Florida 3
Tampa Bay 2
Pittsburgh 5
Atlanta 1
Colorado 5
Nashville 1
San Jose 4
St. Louis 3
Vancouver 5
Calgary 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sergei Samsonov comes from behind the net to beat Martin Brodeur for a score.
avi: 630 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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