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Anderson stellar again as Panthers edge Bruins in OT

Mar 5, 2008 - 3:58 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Craig Anderson just refuses to allow a goal.

Anderson made 40 saves en route to his second consecutive shutout as the Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins, 1-0, in overtime on Tuesday night.

Nathan Horton scored just 22 seconds into the extra session for the Panthers, who have won back-to-back games after going winless in their previous three contests (0-2-1).

Coming off an NHL record 53-save shutout Sunday against the New York Islanders, Anderson was phenomenal once again in this one. He made 13 saves in the first period, 14 in the second and another 13 in the third without facing a shot in overtime to register his fourth career blanking.

"In these last two, it has just been terrific," Anderson said. "Making sure we are getting the puck out, blocking shots, making sure the puck is not getting to the net. A lot of the times, I'm seeing most of the shots, which is definitely a credit to the guys in front of me."

"The way he has played, he has done a good job," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "But the team in front has done a pretty good job as well, as far as cleaning rebounds and playing pretty tight to the vest."

Anderson, who has not surrendered a goal in over 144 minutes, has allowed just one on 134 shots over his last three starts - all wins. The 26-year-old netminder has made at least 40 saves in each of those contests.

"Every game that he has been playing for us, he has been playing so good," Horton said. "Even the games that we lost. But right now, he can't be beat."

Horton provided the game-winner on the first shot of the extra session, bringing the puck into the offensive zone and unleashing a wrist shot that beat former Panthers goaltender Alex Auld between the pads.

"We were being a little too fancy - including myself - and not getting pucks to the net when we needed to, and (Auld) could see every shot," Horton said. "It's tough to score on a goalie when they can see every shot. When you get pucks to the net in traffic, anything can happen, like you saw in overtime."

It was Horton's 22nd goal of the season.

Auld was nearly as impressive as Anderson, making 31 saves. He turned aside 15 shots in the first period and eight in each of the next two before allowing Horton's goal on the only shot of overtime.

"Nathan is the kind of guy that likes to shoot a lot," Auld said of his former teammate. "He is a great shooter, and I was thinking there was a strong chance he was going to shoot. He wasn't at a great angle, but it just goes to show you, you never know."

Boston is winless in its last two contests - including Monday's embarrassing 10-2 loss to the Washington Capitals - after winning six in a row.

"We are a good team, but we are not that good where we can rely on just going out there and playing," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We are good because we are a dedicated group together, we were in sync, we work well together and we commit to doing the things it takes to win. The minute we stop doing that, we become a very ordinary hockey club."

Despite Tuesday's setback, the Bruins (35-24-7) held on to the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, with the New York Rangers (34-24-9) losing to the Islanders (32-29-7) in a shootout.

"A loss is a loss, 10-2, 2-1, 1-0, especially this time of year," Bruins right wing Glen Murray said. "We don't have three or four days to dwell on it. We know what we did well, and we didn't come out and battle."

The Panthers (30-31-8) climbed within six points of the Philadelphia Flyers (33-26-8) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

"We are just concentrating on one game at a time," Anderson said. "You never know what is going to happen. We play our division teams so many times at the end of the year, and if we get hot and the other teams get cold, you never know what can happen."