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Zednik, Jokinen help Panthers crush Bruins

Feb 10, 2008 - 4:46 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Richard Zednik and captain Olli Jokinen spoiled Glen Murray's return to home ice as the Florida Panthers rallied for a win.

Zednik scored twice and Jokinen added his team-leading 28th goal to lead the Panthers past the Boston Bruins, 6-3, on Saturday night at TD Banknorth Garden.

Tomas Vokoun made 38 saves and also recorded an assist for Florida, which improved to 3-1-0 on its season-high five-game road trip.

Zednik, who had a hat trick in Tuesday's 8-0 win at Toronto, now has six goals in his last four games after going 20 without a tally.

The win pushed the Panthers (26-26-5) within one point of Carolina (27-27-4) and Atlanta (27-27-4) for first place in the wide-open Southeast Division.

As he did less than 24 hours earlier in a dramatic comeback win in Buffalo, captain Zdeno Chara got Boston's offense on track by scoring his team's first goal.

With Panthers defenseman Bryan Allen in the penalty box for hooking, the Bruins managed to get the puck deep in the offensive zone. Murray, playing in just his second game following a hip flexor injury, took a pass from Marco Sturm before feeding Chara at the left side of the net.

Vokoun appeared to make the first save but could not control the rebound as the puck trickled past the All-Star netminder for Chara's ninth goal of the season.

But that was one of three leads the Bruins were unable to protect in this one.

"I think I saw a team tonight that was not focused on what they need to do to win a hockey game," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We were up a couple of times and we didn't pay attention to details."

Murray, who sat out 19 games with the injury, recorded his first assist since December 6, while Sturm notched his 200th on the play.

The Panthers tied the game nearly 11 minutes later, when Zednik fired a shot into a vacant net for his 14th goal at 13:11 of the opening period. From the left point, defenseman Branislav Mezei fed Jokinen in the faceoff circle.

The Bruins' defense, including All-Star goaltender Tim Thomas, moved toward Jokinen but left Zednik alone in the slot. Zednik received Jokinen's pass and capitalized for the easy goal.

"It was a great play," Zednik said. "(Jokinen) is a shooter, so the goalie had to challenge him, and he made a great pass. I had a one-timer and put it in. Right away, you score in the first period, you feel more comfortable on the ice and you can do more."

After recording his first point since returning from injury, Murray's first goal since December 12 put Boston back on top.

P.J. Axelsson skated behind the net before finding Murray at the top of the right circle. Murray beat Vokoun to the glove side at 2:46 of the second period for his 11th of the season and a 2-1 edge.

"Glen's been a great addition since he's come back the last two games," Julien said. "He creates that threat every time he's on the ice. He brings a lot of attention to him and opens up a lot of other guys."

Zednik swatted a tipped centering pass out of mid-air and past Thomas for his second of the night and 15th of the season to tie the game at 11:08.

"When you look, two of our first four goals tonight were results of just putting the puck at the net and having people go there," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said. "Zednik's second goal is a good example. (Brett) McLean put the puck at the net and he got the rebound. I think (if) we do that on a more consistent basis, it's going to help."

But Sturm took a feed from Phil Kessel and fired a wrist shot over Vokoun's right shoulder less than two minutes later for a 3-2 lead.

A spectacular end-to-end rush on the power play by Jokinen, which began behind his own net and ended with him skating past three Bruins and beating Thomas between the pads with a backhander, forged a 3-3 tie with 3:37 left in the period.

"He gets a lot of speed from his end to ours," said Boston defenseman Andrew Ference, who was one of the three Bruins beaten on the rush by Jokinen. "He's a top player in the league, obviously, and he's a guy coming full bore at you. You try to almost limit the damage. He definitely knows how to finish."

Only 14 seconds later, David Booth stunned Thomas with a shot for his 17th goal and a 4-3 advantage.

"The backbreaker was just our overall play tonight," Ference said. "It wasn't a single play that beat us tonight. It was our overall game where we just didn't sustain anything."

The Panthers have scored 18 goals in their last three games.

"I think some people are finding the net, but also I think moving the puck out of our zone has helped," Martin said. "I think we have done a better job of going to the net."

Florida got insurance in the third, when Nathan Horton redirected a shot by Stephen Weiss past a screened Thomas during a power play at 3:32. Ville Peltonen, playing his first game after missing 24 with a foot injury, capped the scoring with 7:55 to go.

"We've had a good road trip so far, and watching those games, I didn't want to be the guy who brings the loss with me," Peltonen said. "It was great to come back with the win, awesome feeling."

Thomas made 21 saves for the Bruins.

"This was a game we needed tonight as much as last night, and we didn't respond," Julien said. "Our whole team collapsed tonight, and we certainly didn't play well enough in front of (Thomas) to win a hockey game."