He strikes twice to boost Bruins over Panthers

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 1/27/2002

or the last couple of weeks, the team's leading scorer had gone cold and the club had gone frigid along with him. Victories for the Bruins recently had been hard to come by and goals for center Joe Thornton had been nonexistent.

Last night, both player and club remedied their droughts. Thornton picked up a pair of third-period goals - his first in eight games - and the Bruins earned their first win in five contests, beating former coach Mike Keenan and the Florida Panthers, 4-2, at the FleetCenter.

Thornton's second goal, his 21st of the season, was the 100th of his NHL career and lifted him into first place in the NHL scoring race with 55 points.

''The last practice, [coach Robbie Ftorek and assistants Wayne Cashman and Jim Hughes] and I went on a little early,'' said Thornton. ''They just wanted me to shoot the puck a little bit more. Finally, I got that through my head. I was shooting a little more tonight and I had some more chances out of that.''

The first period was played evenly between the sides although the Bruins came away with a one-goal lead on Martin Lapointe's 13th of the season at 17:35. Bill Guerin skated with the puck hard into the left corner of the Florida zone. He pulled up and looked for help.

Lapointe was coming late and headed for the net. Guerin's pass landed on Lapointe's stick and he guided it under goalie Roberto Luongo.

That score came only 23 seconds after P.J. Stock's first bout of the night during which he took on the Panthers' Brad Norton.

Florida tied the contest at 4:59 of the second on a shorthanded goal. Thornton tried to get the puck out of the Boston zone but it was picked off by defenseman Brad Ference. Ference took a shot that goalie Byron Dafoe saved but the rebound bounced right to center Jason Wiemer in the left circle. He beat Dafoe for his sixth goal of the season.

The Bruins got back on top at 9:16 and although Mike Knuble was credited with the goal and Nick Boynton and Benoit Hogue picked up assists, the real reason the Bruins were able to score was the distraction created by Stock.

Ference had slammed Stock from behind into the boards in the Florida end. Stock got up slowly and skated to the front of the net. Ference went at him again and after a little pushing and shoving, mammoth enforcer Peter Worrell jumped into the fray and attempted to go nose-to-nose with Stock.

With Worrell and Ference distracted by Stock, Knuble got the puck and lifted a backhander high into the net.

''I thought Mike Knuble played one of his best games,'' said Thornton. ''He's so powerful out there. He drove the net. He definitely makes plays like that. P.J. [Stock] had another fantastic game, he gets the crowd into it, and I thought Benoit Hogue played a hell of a game.''

The Bruins found themselves in a pickle later in the period, taking a couple of penalties that led to a two-man advantage for Florida.

With Rob Zamuner already in the box for hooking Pavel Bure, defenseman Hal Gill was whistled off for high-sticking, giving the Panthers a five-on-three for 44 seconds. They didn't waste it. Only 10 seconds into it, defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh delivered a pass to Pavel Bure in the right circle. Bure one-timed a shot past Dafoe to make it 2-2 at 13:34. It was the 400th goal of his career.

Then Thornton and the rest of the Bruins stepped up and took over the final 20 minutes. Thornton's first goal put Boston ahead for good at the 46-second mark when he scored on a power play. Then he scored again to seal it with 1:58 remaining.

''Jim [Hughes] and I were talking on the bench that that was the best third period we've played in a long time,'' said Ftorek. ''It's because of all the guys doing the little things.''

The victory proved to be a relief to everyone, Dafoe included.

''It was a tough week at the office for us,'' said the goalie. ''It was an important win for us. We had a tough trip there and it was very important for us to get on the board, which we did.

''And even though they tied it up, 2-2, we came out in the third period and went right at them. That was good to see.''

This story ran on page D13 of the Boston Globe on 1/27/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.