Florida Panthers get third straight with 6-2 win over slumping Boston Bruins -NHL Update
Florida is playing hockey like it should be as they had the crowd going wild throughout the 60-minute contest as Panthers earned their third straight win, 6-2, this time over struggling Boston Bruins team on Thursday, March 15, 2012, at the BankAtlantic
Center in Sunrise, Florida.
Boston and Florida are now tied in the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season at 2-2 after four meetings, meaning that the Panthers, which were struggling to get anywhere near the playoffs last season are now competing with the defending Stanley
Cup champions.
Seeing over 19,000 fans in the building, Panthers were definitely excited and showed it through their playing as well.
"We want to play well at home to enthuse our fan base," Panthers coach, Kevin Dineen, said. "We want to be homers, be a good home team. I think we've shown that."
Mikael Samuelsson potted his 10th goal of the season with less than three minutes remaining in the opening period on the power play with Boston missing Shawn Thornton for cross-checking.
Marcel Goc widened the gap while Joe Corvo tried to kill off the momentum with his first for Boston, but Panthers only heated up even more with two straight by Stephen Weiss on the rebound and John Madden scoring his first of the season at 15:27.
"It was a big hockey game for us for sure," Weiss said. "We knew we were either two points back or six points back (of Boston), so that's a big win for us. We've got to keep it going."
Florida is playing perfect when they need it the most and are now three points ahead of South Eastern Division rivals, the Washington Capitals, to stay put in the third place of the Eastern Conference.
"Felt great. It was a big game, but just to score finally," Madden said. "It's good to get it off my back and move forward."
Brian Rolston got Boston their second of the night on the power play with Marcel Goc on the benches for tripping, triggering another shooting spree by Florida as Tomas Kopecky and Wojtek Wolski finalised the contest with less than three minutes remaining.
Florida will be staying at home to continue their winning streak against Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
Boston Bruins have the next at home as well against Philadelphia Flyers on the same day, which definitely does not look good for them.
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