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Lucic hat trick leads Bruins past Thrashers

Oct 26, 2008 - 4:51 AM By Tony Lee PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Milan Lucic turned a potentially embarrassing night at TD Banknorth Garden into one to remember.

Lucic completed his first career hat trick with 1:41 remaining in the third period, giving the Boston Bruins a wild 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday.

Stephane Yelle and David Krejci also scored for the Bruins, who picked up their first home win of the season on a night that started in odd fashion.

Before the game, the arena staff noticed the faceoff dots on one end of the ice were measured improperly, a full four feet from the end line more than NHL regulations. To be fair, the league had the teams switch sides midway through the third.

Boston coach Claude Julien downplayed the mistake that was not noticed during the Bruins' first two home games.

"I don't think it had any bearing on any of our games, and tonight, they made it fair," Julien said, choosing to focus on Lucic's effort. "He won us a hockey game tonight with the way he played and the identity we talk about - grinding it out and outhustling (everyone)."

Boston lost a two-goal lead in a 4-2 home loss to Toronto on Thursday and was down, 2-0, after one period in this one after the Thrashers got power-play goals from Jason Williams and defenseman Mathieu Schneider.

Julien ripped into his charges during intermission, and the Bruins came out swarming in the second period.

"He made it real clear and real simple about what we needed to do to get better," said Lucic, who also assisted on Krejci's goal late in the second that tied it the game at 3-3. "It was good to turn things around."

After Yelle opened the scoring for the hosts at 3:37, Lucic tied it less than six minutes into the period. His power-play tally at 5:08 of the third gave Boston a 4-3 advantage and, after Atlanta's Vyacheslav Kozlov tied it with 12:38 remaining, he flipped a backhander past goaltender Johan Hedberg in the closing moments, prompting hats to pour onto the ice.

Lucic, who recently made the switch to contact lenses, was quick to recall the last time he had this feeling.

"The Chilliwack Bruins," said Lucic, noting the Western Hockey League opponent he torched for a hat trick nearly two years ago.

Manny Fernandez stopped 28 shots for Boston, which begins a three-game Western road trip Monday in Edmonton. The ice at TD Banknorth Garden is expected to be fixed in time for the Bruins' next home game on November 1.

Hedberg made 28 saves for Atlanta, which scored three times on the power play but was overwhelmed in the second when the momentum shifted.

"(The Bruins) came out hard in the second period," Thrashers coach John Anderson said. "We at least responded with the goal to come out of there tied."

Kozlov's goal came on an assist from Colby Armstrong, who was lying dazed in the corner with his helmet off seconds before the puck was passed his way. Armstrong quickly corralled it and slid it to a wide-open Kozlov for the equalizer.

The change of ends came moments later but was made a distant memory by Lucic's heroics.