Rolston key in Florida

His overtime goal a trip for Bruins

[ Game summary ]

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 2/15/2003

UNRISE, Fla. -- Mike Knuble figured if he ever made it into the National Hockey League record book, it would be for some infamous reason.

''Like worst plus-minus ever or something,'' said the Bruins left wing. ''Nothing positive.''

But Knuble did make it into the annals for something very impressive -- scoring the fastest two goals by one player at the start of a game when he potted a pair in the opening 27 seconds last night against the Florida Panthers. It was the second-fastest two-goal strike at the start of a game in NHL history, the record being 24 seconds by the Edmonton Oilers March 28, 1982.

What looked like a potential rout, though, turned into a roller-coaster battle, with the Bruins prevailing in overtime at the Office Depot Center, 6-5.

Brian Rolston, whose line was quiet all night because he and left wing P.J. Axelsson spent a lot of time killing penalties, potted the winner just 27 seconds into the extra session to give the Bruins' their first win on this seven-game road swing and end their losing skid at two games.

''It was a goofy game,'' said Knuble. ''Getting a lead like that in the first minute, it throws your whole night off. The team thinks it's going to be an easy game but you just know it's going to be a wild game when that happens early on.''

And wild it was. After Knuble gave Boston a 2-0 lead, the Panthers scored the next four goals. Joe Thornton tallied a pair to pull the Bruins even at 4-4. Then Florida went up again, the Bruins tied it, and it went to overtime.

As relieved as the Bruins were about getting the 2 points, the news wasn't all good.

The team is losing defensemen at an alarming rate. Last night, Hal Gill suffered a broken left ring finger in the first period. He is scheduled to return to Boston today to be evaluated.

Knuble's first strike came just 10 seconds in as Jozef Stumpel dished a pass across the slot and Knuble, coming down from the left circle, bunted the bouncing puck into the net.

Knuble beat Florida netminder Roberto Luongo 17 seconds later on his own rebound. Bryan Berard, positioned at the right point, sent the puck down toward the slot. It hit traffic on its way to the net but Knuble got his stick on it and tried to backhand a bid the goaltender's way, but he said he partially fanned on it. Luongo stopped it but Knuble got it back and went to his forehand, beating the netminder for his 17th goal of the season, a new career high.

''[The first one] was just one of those things where you just hope you hit it,'' said Knuble. ''I know I choked up on the stick a little bit, kind of like a bunt. It was a great way to start off the game. I thought it was going to be a shot we needed to get going. Then, to get another one, it's crazy. You almost have to pinch yourself to see if you're dreaming.''

But the Panthers took over, scoring the next four goals. Their first came at 7:20 when superstar-in-waiting Olli Jokinen beat goalie Jeff Hackett with a backhander in front for his 30th goal of the season.

The Panthers tied it at 14:09 on a power-play strike by Matt Cullen.

Early in the middle period, left wing Kristian Huselius -- who had been struggling offensively -- put the Panthers on top when he took a pass from Cullen and beat Hackett on a one-timer from the slot at 1:41. It was just Huselius's second goal in the past 22 games. Center Viktor Kozlov, celebrating his 28th birthday, did it in style, giving Florida a 4-2 edge at 3:31 with his 15th goal of the season.

The Bruins stormed back later in the period, pulling to within one during a two-man advantage on Thornton's first goal of the night at 12:27. Thornton came through again, tying the game at 4-4, with only 31.8 seconds on the clock and two seconds remaining on a power play. Early in the third, the Panthers regained the lead on defenseman Andreas Lilja's goal at 2:54, but Glen Murray's scorching shot at 10:48 (No. 29 of the campaign) deadlocked it again, 5-5.

At this point, the Bruins said they don't care how they win as long as they get points, but with four games in six nights, they would like to keep their game a little more conservative.

''There was quality play at times and dicey play at other times,'' said Knuble.

But he figures this rough road, given the various slumps and all the injuries, might be setting up Boston to succeed in the postseason.

''We've had so much adversity this year,'' Knuble said. ''Last year, things went so smoothly and we bowed out in the first round, so maybe this is the adversity we need to do better in the playoffs.''

Coach Robbie Ftorek looked even more exhausted than his players. He was relieved but spent at the same time.

''That's one we don't need,'' he said. ''We'll take it. But we don't need that type of a game.''

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 2/15/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.