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UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Pavel Bure not only scores goals in bunches, he single-handedly controls games.
Bure's fourth hat trick of the season included his 50th goal as the Florida Panthers beat the New York Islanders 4-2 Saturday night.
|  | | Pavel Bure, center, reached the 50-goal mark for the fourth time in his career. |
Bure scored the game-winner with 70 seconds left in regulation when he broke around defenseman Jamie Rivers and moved in alone on goalie Kevin Weekes. He beat Weekes between the pads with a wrist shot to give the Panthers their first win in three games, and fourth in their last 14.
"Aside from the three goals, he was a presence every time he was on the ice," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "(The Islanders) always had to be conscious of him."
Bure added an empty-net goal with 19.5 seconds left, giving him his 15th career hat trick. It also marked his fourth 50-goal season, and the second time he scored his 50th with an empty-netter.
The Islanders were getting the best of Bure early on. They even took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on Mariusz Czerkawski's power-play goal, his career high-tying and team-leading 26th of the season.
Florida dominated the second period, as they outshot the Islanders 19-4, and tied it when Scott Mellanby connected on a one-timer during a power play at 3:11, beating Weekes to the open right side.
Bure scored the first of his three goals with 1.4 seconds left in the period on a one-timer from the slot that got through Weekes' pads.
Bure admitted he was out for a long shift on the goal, but wasn't apologizing for it.
"If I'm not tired, I don't go to the bench," Bure said.
Murray wasn't upset, either.
"When he's full of energy like he was tonight, I don't mind if he stays out a little longer," Murray said.
The Islanders tied it at 4:39 of the final period when Brad Isbister beat goalie Mike Vernon with a shot from the slot during a power play.
Bure, took seven shots in the second period, took two in the last period and scored the game-winner and the insurance goal.
With just over a minute to play, Islanders defenseman Kenny Jonsson tried to pinch at the Florida blue line after defense partner Jamie Rivers told him to go. Jonsson was beaten to the puck by Mike Sillinger, who cleared the puck diagonally through the neutral zone. Bure swooped around Rivers at the Islanders blue line along the right boards, and broke in alone on Weekes. He waited for the goalie to open his legs, and then sent a wrist shot through.
"My teammates told me to go, and I listened to my teammates," Jonsson said. "It's frustrating. This game is about trust. My teammates told me to go, so I went."
Bure then completed his 15th career hat trick and picked up his 50th goal with an empty-netter with 19.5 seconds left.
Bure, who hit the 50-goal mark for the fourth time in his six full NHL seasons, is the first player to score 50 since he was one of four NHL players to do it in 1997-98. Teemu Selanne won the first Maurice Richard Trophy last season by leading the league with 47 goals.
"It's not even a question about his skill level," Weekes said. "The thing with Pavel is that he's so dangerous because he finds the open spaces on the ice. He's hungry to shoot and hungry to score. He single-handedly imposed his will on this game."
He helped move Florida into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of idle Ottawa, though the Senators have a game in hand. The win also put the Panthers four points behind Southeast Division-leading Washington. Both teams have 11 games left.
Sillinger, who had three assists, said the Panthers can only worry about themselves.
"We have a great team, though we've been struggling a bit," Sillinger said. "We can't worry about what Washington or anybody else does. We can only control what we do."
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