Panthers Nail Bruins

The Florida Panthers continued their four-game homestand as they took on the Boston Bruins from the Bank Atlantic Center on Thursday night. The Cats won 6-2 over the defending Stanley Cup champions and extended their winning streak to three straight. Boston has now lost a season-high four consecutive games. It seemed that the pace of this game was first determined almost nine minutes into the first period when Brian Campbell performed a hip check on Brad Marchand at the Panthers blue line. Both teams had limited shots on goal after 15 minutes as the Panthers had three while the Bruins had five. Florida succeeded on their second power play at 17:57 for a 1-0 lead. From the right point, Brian Campbell passed ahead on the wall to Mikael Samuelsson who fired a shot from the top right circle by Tim Thomas with Sean Bergenheim screening in front. Samuelsson picked up his tenth goal this season. The Panthers increased their lead 28 seconds into the second period to 2-0. Samuelsson passed the puck from the right-wing boards on top to Campbell who powered a slap shot that was deflected in by Marcel Goc in the low slot. It was the tenth goal this season for Goc who now has a three-game goal streak. Boston cut the lead down to 2-1 at 4:53 as Joe Corvo flicked a wrist shot from the left point that traveled over Jose Theodore's right shoulder. The Cats regained a two-goal margin at 6:32. Tomas Fleischmann threw a shot on net from the right face-off dot that was stopped by traffic in the crease area. Stephen Weiss put in the loose puck from the low slot area for his 17th goal this season. Campbell got his third assist of the game on that play. John Madden got his first point and scored his first goal as a Florida Panther at 15:27 for a 4-1 lead. Krys Barch sent the puck around the boards to the right corner, Jerred Smithson centered it to the crease area where Madden poked in his shot from the right of the crease. Smithson also picked up his first point for Florida since being acquired from Nashville. Although down by three goals after two periods, Boston needed to score quickly in the third period to get back in the game and they did. On their second power play of the game, Brian Rolston blasted a slap shot from the right point following a cross-ice feed by Zdeno Chara at 1:44. The Panthers got a gift goal at 7:51 as Chris Kelly sent a cross-ice pass through his own crease, but Tomas Kopecky stopped the puck at the edge of the crease and scored his eighth goal this season. The Cats made it 6-2 with 2:36 remaining on a two-on-one breakaway. Fleischmann passed it off to his right where Wojtek Wolski found the net. Florida now leads the Washington Capitals by three points in the Southeast Division and play on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres, who are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference.