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Bruins hope for more success against Panthers

Nov 21, 2008 - 11:33 AM Florida (7-10-1) at Boston (12-3-4), 7:00 pm EST

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The top-ranked defense in the NHL has become the Boston Bruins' second-best weapon during a recent winning stretch.

Winners of 10 of their last 12, the rolling Bruins hope to continue their success when they host the Florida Panthers on Friday.

Boston, which has yielded just 45 goals, has been clicking on the offensive end lately, posting 31 goals over the last eight games. Such prowess was evident in its 7-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.

''When things are going well, you want to take advantage of it, but at the same time, it's just a matter of our team staying focused and not taking anything for granted," Bruins coach Claude Julien told the Boston Globe. "The worst thing you could do is take anything for granted, think you can just go out there and just play okay and pull out some wins."

The Bruins were able to pull out the gritty victory by netting five unanswered goals after trailing, 4-2, in the first period.

"Sometimes there are going to be some ugly wins but you've got to know that every game, you've got to come ready and prepared to do the job," Julien told the Globe after the win. "And when you are, you can bounce back from situations like (Wednesday) where we had a tough start but because the guys were determined and focused we got ourselves back in the game."

Center Marc Savard had a goal and three assists against Buffalo and has nine points during his four-game points streak.

Florida dropped a 3-1 decision to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and fell to 3-2-0 in its last five contests following a six-game losing skid.

Goaltender Tomas Vokoun made 16 saves in his third straight start and rookie Michael Frolik - the 10th overall pick in 2006 - scored his first career goal.

The Panthers have done a valiant job killing penalties in their last six contests, yielding only one goal over their last 24 shorthanded situations.