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BOX SCORE
BOSTON (AP) -- A year ago, the Boston Bruins were in the midst of
their worst start in 35 years, going winless until late October and
surrounded by controversy as they were without holdout goalie Byron
Dafoe.
Now, the Bruins are unbeaten in three games.
|  | | Boston's Hal Gill, left, tangles with Paul Laus in the first period Monday. |
Mike Knuble scored Boston's first short-handed goal in nearly
two years and goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped 29 shots in his NHL
debut as the Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 Monday.
"The guys feel good about each other," Boston coach Pat Burns
said. "We all feel good about the team. There's not a whole bunch
of nagging injuries. The (Anson) Carter situation -- no one's even
talking about it."
That's about the only bad thing so far for the Bruins. Carter,
the club's second-leading scorer last season, is unsigned.
Mikko Eloranta, Jason Allison and P.J. Axelsson also scored for
Boston (2-0-1). Rob Niedermayer had a power-play goal for the
Panthers (0-2), with Ray Whitney also scoring for Florida.
Knuble's goal gave Boston a 1-0 lead 1:47 into the first period.
Brian Rolston made a forehand drop pass from the right circle and
Knuble slipped a wrist shot past goaltender Roberto Luongo. It came
while Boston was shorthanded for four minutes, after Allison was
called for two double minors.
The Bruins were the only NHL team last season without a
short-handed goal, with their last on Dec. 19, 1998 by Chris Taylor
against Detroit.
Raycroft, the MVP last season in the Ontario Hockey League, was
relieved with his team's fast start.
"It felt good to get a lead, especially when we're down for
four minutes," he said.
Florida tied it 1-1 on Niedermayer's goal 2:24 later, but the
Bruins regained the lead for good when Eloranta skated in on the
left wing, took Samuel Pahlsson's cross-ice pass and put a wrist
shot past Luongo at 8:54.
The Panthers' Igor Larionov felt the Bruins played a better team
game and Raycroft was outstanding when his team needed him.
"When you have a young goalie, it makes the whole team play
harder to protect him," Larionov said. "But he was brilliant."
There were 13 penalties, including four majors, called in the
first period.
Skating with a two-man advantage, Boston made it 3-1 on
Allison's goal 42 seconds into the second period. Alexsson scored
from in close midway through the period, making it 4-1.
The Panthers cut it to 4-2 when Whitney broke in alone and fired
a shot between Raycroft's pads with 2:14 remaining in the second
period.
Game notes
Dafoe was sidelined with a hamstring pull, sustained in
Saturday's 5-1 win at Philadelphia. But general manager Mike
O'Connell said Raycroft would have started anyway. ... Luongo's
first start of the season was much different from his NHL debut.
Last season, he stopped 43 shots against the Bruins in a 2-1
victory Nov. 28. Nearly a month later, he posted his first career
shutout against Boston. ... The Panthers don't play again until
Friday. ... Boston's next home game won't be for 2½ weeks. The club
goes on a five-game road trip, starting Wednesday at Anaheim.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 4
Florida 2
Los Angeles 7
Columbus 1
Dallas 3
Toronto 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jason Allison scores for Boston.
avi: 693 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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