Wednesday, Feb. 14 7:30pm ET
Bure has seven goals in last two games
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – Pavel Bure missed an empty net in the final
minute. It didn't matter much because by then he already had three
goals.
Bure earned his 17th career hat trick, giving him seven goals in
two games, and Greg Adams got the game-winner against his former
team with 5:42 left as the Florida Panthers beat the Phoenix
Coyotes 4-3 on Wednesday night.
|  | | Pavel Bure's hat trick gave him seven goals in the last two games for the Panthers. |
Bure, who has 15 goals and nine assists in his last 11 games,
had a four-goal, five-point effort on Saturday against Atlanta.
"When he takes off, he's a treat to watch," said Coyotes
forward Jeremy Roenick, who had his 399th career goal and an
assist. "He knows what to do with the puck and is one of the
purest goal scorers in the league."
Florida is 5-1-0-1 in its last seven home games, and snapped
Phoenix's three-game winning streak,
After Bure's three unanswered goals gave Florida a 3-2 lead
early in the third, Shane Doan's rising slap shot beat Trevor Kidd
for a power-play goal at 9:54, forging a 3-3 tie.
Rob Niedermayer, coming off a three-assist game, backhanded a
pass to a streaking Adams, who lifted a back-hander over rookie
goalie Robert Esche at 14:08 of the third period. It was his 350th
career goal and sixth of the season.
"It couldn't have happened any better," said Adams, 37, who's
been hampered by shoulder and neck injuries in his first season in
Florida. "Most of those guys are my friends, but it's nice to
stick it to them a little bit for bragging rights over the
summer."
Adams, who is with his fifth team in 17 years, played with
Phoenix the past two seasons.
"He works hard and has always been a gifted goal scorer,"
Phoenix right wing Claude Lemieux said of Adams. "That made his
night rewarding."
Trevor Letowski scored just 55 seconds into the first period and
Roenick made it 2-0 at 7:33. Keith Tkachuk assisted on both goals,
giving him 14 points in 10 games.
"They're making me old quick," Panthers coach Duane Sutter
said. "I don't know how many consecutive games we've fallen
behind, but it makes it hard to continue to come back."
Bure took over with two goals in the second and another at 4:52
of the third.
"I'd like the players to stay sitting down so I can see,"
Sutter said. "He's such a goal scorer that it's scary."
Tied at 2-2, the Coyotes took two penalties within 18 seconds to
set up a two-man advantage.
"We weren't very disciplined in the penalty department,"
Coyotes coach Bob Francis said. "We should have won. When you're
up 2-0 you should win it. I think they're an improved hockey
club."
Thirteen seconds later, Viktor Kozlov passed to an unguarded
Bure, who stuffed it into the corner for his league-leading 38th
goal.
"It was one of those games when you're having so much fun it
couldn't get any better," said Bure, who became the first Panthers
player to have hat tricks in consecutive games. "I knew he
(Kozlov) was going to give me the puck. It was a matter of
waiting."
Bure barely missed an empty-net goal with 38 seconds left.
Bure cut the deficit to 2-1 as a two-man advantage became one.
Marcus Nilson's shot from the slot caromed off Esche's shoulder,
hit the left goal post and trickled out to an unattended Bure
Then at 17:23 of the second, Denis Shvidki's long pass up ice
sprung Bure, who raced up ice. After several dekes, he put the puck
through Esche's legs to even it at 2.
Roenick, who has a goal in each of his last four games, took a
cross-ice pass from Tkachuk, for his 21st of the season.
Game notes
Florida LW Ray Whitney, bothered by a bad back, was
scratched. ... Bure has 19 goals and 20 assists in 31 games against
Phoenix. ... The long-awaited purchase of the Coyotes by a group
led by Wayne Gretzky was placed on hold again for one more day. The
NHL has set Thursday as the deadline for the deal to be
completed.... Phoenix All-Star goalie Sean Burke sat out against
his former team with a bruised knee. ... The Coyotes' streak of
killing off 20 consecutive power plays ended on Bure's first goal.
... Roenick needs one more goal to become the third U.S.-born
player to score 400. The others are Joe Mullen (502) and Pat
LaFontaine (468). ... Pittsburgh's Alexei Kovalev had consecutive
hat tricks last week.
 Send this story to a friend
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
Florida Clubhouse
RECAPS
Detroit 4
Carolina 3
Florida 4
Phoenix 3
Ottawa 3
New Jersey 2
Philadelphia 3
NY Islanders 1
Pittsburgh 2
Minnesota 1
Columbus 2
Toronto 2
San Jose 7
Chicago 0
Dallas 4
Los Angeles 2
Washington 4
Vancouver 3
Edmonton 3
Anaheim 3
|
