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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – Pavel Bure didn't make history, but managed to do plenty in helping the Florida Panthers to their first three-game winning streak of the season.
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Bure scored his eighth goal in three games and added an assist
in the Panthers' 2-1 victory Friday night over the Boston Bruins.
He wasn't able to become the first NHL player to record hat tricks
in three straight games.
"That's close to impossible," Bure said. "They usually pay attention to me, but I don't think they paid any more on what I did the previous night."
Bure has eight goals and two assists in his last three games and
14 goals and seven assists in the past nine. The last player to
score eight times in three games was Washington's Peter Bondra in
February 1999.
"He's the best goal scorer in the world right now," Panthers
coach Duane Sutter said of Bure. "There's no question about it and
when he gets in a zone and gets his chances, he's going to
connect."
Roberto Luongo made 25 saves to improve to 5-2 career against
Boston.
"We ran into a hot goalie who's playing well," said Bill
Guerin, who brought Boston within 2-1 at 14:14 of the second
period, with his 30th goal -- tying a career high. "The kid's
playing great. We really had a lot of opportunities to score. He
was a big factor."
Joe Thornton and Jason Allison assisted on the goal that came
with the Bruins skating with a two-man advantage.
The Bruins, who beat Tampa Bay on Wednesday in the first game of
a six-game road trip, have lost seven of eight to the Panthers,
including three of four this season.
"They haven't matured yet to be prepared to play every night
and it's very unfortunate," Bruins coach Mike Keenan said of his
team. "Maybe it means missing the playoffs again."
Florida has won five of six and is 6-1-0-1 in eight home games.
"We're finding a way to win now," Sutter said. "Early in the
year, we'd be finding a way to lose."
Luongo made a spectacular glove save of Brian Rolston's
point-blank wrist shot, after he threw away his stick, while he was
prone with 1:52 remaining in the second period to preserve
Florida's 2-1 lead.
"That was certainly a highlight save, the one in the third as
well," Sutter said.
The latter saves came with 16:39 remaining when Luongo robbed
Sergei Samsonov from the slot with another quick, glove save. He
foiled Samsonov again on the doorstep with 13 minutes left with a
diving stop. Boston outshot defensive-minded Florida 8-2 in the
third period.
"I threw it away on purpose to get more reach," Luongo said.
"He had it a long time and had me out of position. Fortunately for
us, my glove was in the way."
Bure gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead late in the first period. Bure
sneaked up behind an unsuspecting Hal Gill as the defenseman
brought the puck out from behind his own net.
Bure stole the puck, whirled around on goalie Peter Skudra and flicked it past his stick side for his league-leading 39th goal at
19:48.
"I didn't know it was Bure," Gill said. "I tried to outskate him and lost the puck. It's a game of mistakes and they capitalized on them."
Viktor Kozlov, whose return to health coincided with his Bure's
streak, made it 1-0 at 8:58 of the first period. Kozlov shot the
puck off of Skudra's right pad, just over the goal line, for his
sixth goal in the past 11 games to go with eight assists. Bure and
Anders Eriksson assisted.
Game notes
Panthers D Mike Wilson, out with a broken right arm, has been cleared to play. He likely will be sent to Louisville of the AHL to get into shape. ... In 18 games against Boston, Bure has 14 goals and 11 assists. ... Bure has four game-winning goals in the
past 12 games. ... Keenan pulled Skudra for John Grahame at 5:53 of the second period. Skudra gave up two goals on 11 shots. It was
Grahame's first action since being called up Tuesday after starter Byron Dafoe was injured. ... The Bruins are 5-6-1-1 in the second
of back-to-back sets. ... Allison, who matched a career high with five points against Tampa Bay on Thursday, has nine points, including five goals, in his past three games. ... Boston dropped to 10-2-2-0 when Guerin scores.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Florida Clubhouse
RECAPS
Phoenix 2
Carolina 0
Detroit 4
Columbus 2
Florida 2
Boston 1
Pittsburgh 4
New Jersey 4
Chicago 6
St. Louis 2
Los Angeles 4
Minnesota 0
San Jose 2
Nashville 0
Dallas 3
Anaheim 2
NY Islanders 4
Edmonton 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Viktor Kozlov angles the puck past Peter Skudra for a Florida goal.
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Bill Guerin takes a centering pass and finds a wide-open net for the Bruins goal.
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Pavel Bure picks Hal Gill's pocket and finds the back of the net for a goal.
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