The Bruins (27-22-11), who came across lackluster for most of the game, eked out a 3-2 victory against the Panthers (24-27-10), notching their fourth straight win after a 10-game slide.
It took eight rounds to snatch a shootout win, delivered at the hands of Mark Recchi — who also scored the tying goal in the third period — to send Boston into the break happy. The victory lands Boston in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings, with the rival Montreal Canadiens falling to the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2.
Things looked to get off to a poor start when Panthers center Nick Tarnasky notched his first goal of the season with 10:12 remaining in the first period. Tarnasky certainly isn’t known for his scoring prowess, as he scored just one goal in the 2008-2009 season — and it came in his final appearance.
David Krejci evened things up with 4:06 remaining, tallying his eighth road goal (11 total) on an assist by Dennis Wideman. Unfortunately, Shawn Thornton then headed to the penalty box for holding Brian McCabe, opening the door for Panthers points leader Stephen Weiss. The center slipped the puck between Zdeno Chara‘s legs at the Boston blue line, going end-to-end to close the period out with a 2-1 lead. Just how rare was this goal? Boston entered the game with the best success rate at killing off power-play opportunities with an 86.3 percent mark.
Recchi then tacked on the final regulation goal before both teams endured a back-and-forth melee in overtime, culminating in the shootout battle and matching the Bruins’ longest win streak of the season at four.
Bruins goalie Tukka Rask turned away 26 of 28 shots while his Florida counterpart Tomas Vokoun withstood a Bruins onslaught, denying 37 of 39 shots.
Bruins 3, Panthers 2
Bank Atlantic Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Feb. 13, 2010
Headliner: On offense, only Patrice Bergeron and Marc Savard outlasted Mark Recchi. The 42-year-old stayed on the ice for 19:34 and added two goals to his career 558 goals, leading all active players. Recchi, who plans to retire at the end of the season, moved to ninth all-time in games played with 1,550. Ahead of him on the list? Former Bruins standout Ray Bourque, with 1,612 total games played.
After Recchi and Savard put the first two shootout goals on the board, Recchi’s name was called. He was a pedestrian 1-for-13 on penalty shots for his career, but no longer. The right-wing forward deked Vokoun and sent a shot to the top right side of the net, lighting the lamp and sending the Bruins home tired but happy.
Grinder: The Panthers would have lost this game handily if it wasn’t for the work of their goalie. Tomas Vokoun, who led the NHL in save percentage with .930 entering the game, only upped the ante. His .949 mark frustrated the Bruins all game long
and made some deft saves, turning away 37 shots. Krejci’s goal in the first period ended a 147:17 drought for Boston against the goaltender, dating back to Dec. 6, 2008.
He did seem to tire in
the shootout, at one point being faked past the right goalpost when
Krejci buried in the first of three goals it would take to secure the
victory. Vokoun will play alongside Krejci at the Olympics.
Weak Link: All is not well down in Florida, as the team is not only struggling, but the owners seem to have turned against their own players. Panthers owners Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel lambasted their own team on the Florida Web site Friday, saying that “it is clear that our team, the way it is currently structured, is not equipped to meet the goals. Clearly, we are not satisfied with some of the players on this team that do not possess the characteristics we need to be successful.”
Did that wake up the team? Considering the Panthers went on to score fewer than three goals for the 13th straight game — the longest such streak in team history — it seems the answer is no.
Key Moment: The Bruins looked to have mentally checked out with the Olympic break looming, but some well-placed shots by rookie defenseman Adam McQuaid seemed to revitalize the team. With 4:54 left in the second period, McQuaid and fellow Canadian Victor Oreskovich dropped the gloves at the Bruins’ bench and went at it. It was clear that McQuaid came away the victor. The Bruins suddenly started playing with urgency and outshot Florida 19-6 in the third period before outlasting the Panthers in an eight-round shootout.
Up Next: The Winter Olympics mean that the Bruins are off until March 2. Six of the Bruins will head to Vancouver and join their respective national teams, so not everyone will get a break. The Olympians, followed by national team, are: Patrice Bergeron (Canada), Zdeno Chara (Slovakia), David Krejci (Czech Republic), Miroslav Satan (Slovakia), Marco Sturm (Germany) and Tim Thomas (U.S.A).
When Boston takes to the ice again, the team will be hosting the Canadiens and may do so with the services of Johnny Boychuk. The defenseman suffered a fractured orbital bone after being hit in the face with a puck while playing the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 6. Fortunately, Boychuk did not require surgery.
The Habs are 29-28-6, a mere point behind Boston, and boast one of the better goalies in the game in Jaroslav Halak.
