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Vokoun, Panthers shutout Bruins

Feb 22, 2009 - 4:48 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Radek Dvorak provided the offense and Tomas Vokoun was all the defense the Florida Panthers would need.

Vokoun stopped all 41 shots he faced and Dvorak scored a pair of goals in the third period to lead the Panthers to a 2-0 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Vokoun made 15 saves in the opening period, 12 in the second and 14 in the third for his sixth shutout of the season and 32nd of his career. He also assisted on Dvorak's first goal.

"Sometimes playing this game you have good fortune and a lot of luck," Vokoun said. "I got some bounces go my way tonight. We ended up scoring that (shorthanded) goal and it made a difference."

After the first 40 minutes were played without a goal, Dvorak put the Panthers on top just 1:44 into the final period.

With Richard Zednik serving a double-minor for high sticking, Dvorak collected the loose puck around the center line and skated down the right side.

The Panthers right wing held off Bruins All-Star defenseman Zdeno Chara and beat All-Star goaltender Tim Thomas with a wrister from just below the right circle.

"It was nice to finally puck the puck in," Dvorak said. "There were like three or four posts and near misses, so it was nice to see the puck go in for us in the third period.

"I had a step on (the defenseman) and I just wanted to get a shot on net and it went in."

Dvorak doubled the Florida advantage at the 6:44 mark of the third, knocking home a perfect feed from in front of the net after Gregory Campbell centered the puck from along the left boards.

"It was nice that (Radek Dvorak) got rewarded for his effort tonight," Panthers coach Peter DeBoer said. "I thought we really did a good job on the forecheck, creating chances."

Boston, which failed to score on all six power-play opportunities, never found away to beat Vokoun, who made the slim lead stand up.

The 29-year-old Czech made a couple of key saves in the third period - including a spectacular right pad stop on Patrice Bergeron's wraparound attempt midway through the frame.

"(Vokoun) was outstanding," DeBoer said. "Nothing short of that. He gave us a chance to win and that's the type of goaltending you need down the stretch."

It was the third time that Boston has been shutout this season - and second on its current five-game road trip.

"We had a lot of energy tonight, that wasn't the issue," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "It was more (a lack) of concentration or lack of willingness to go to the dirty areas. We can have 41 shots on net, but if the goaltender can see everything you're not going to score too many goals that way."

Thomas made 27 saves for Boston, which is just 1-3-2 in its last six games.

"It was one of those nights," Thomas said. "They covered the slot area pretty well. If we could have gotten just one (goal), it would have been a totally different game."