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Wednesday, Apr. 5 7:30pm ET
Boston 3, Florida 6 | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) _ Florida set a franchise record for goals in a period with six, including a pair each by Ray Whitney and Ray Sheppard, as the Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins 6-3 Wednesday night. Mark Parrish and Scott Mellanby also scored in the second period as the Panthers rallied from a 1-0 deficit. Florida, which clinched no worse than the fifth playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference, is unbeaten in four games (3-0-1). The Panthers can win the Southeast Division if they win their final two games and Washington loses its last two. Pavel Bure had an assist to stretch his point streak to 13 games, tying his career best. Thirteen Panthers notched at least one point in the game. The Panthers swept the season series (4-0) for the first time ever, outscoring Boston 18-7. The Bruins are 0-7-1 in their last eight against the Panthers. The Bruins, 0-5-2 in their last seven, took a 1-0 lead with 3:21 left in the first period. Mikko Eloranta, who was along the boards just outside the left circle, sent the puck toward the net, where Mike Sillinger had Cameron Mann tied up, but the puck glanced off Mann's skate and skittered in behind Mike Vernon. That lead was short-lived, though, as the Panthers exploded for three goals in the first 3:01 of the second period. The Panthers needed just 11 seconds to tie, one second off Johan Garpenlov's team record for fastest goal to open a period _ set Oct. 17, 1996, at Colorado _ as Parrish launched a wrist shot from the left circle that beat John Grahame. Whitney broke free down the center and Len Barrie, who had a pair of assists, found him closing in on Grahame. Whitney's shot went just under the goalie, who was diving down in the crease, to make it 2-1. Mellanby made it 3-1 when he swatted the puck past Grahame. Florida later notched a pair of goals in 1:02 to chase Grahame. First, Sheppard poked in a missed shot by Bure, and then Whitney added his second of the period and 28th of the season. Goaltender Robbie Tallas came in for Boston, but Sheppard put the puck past him for his 10th of the year. It marks the 14th consecutive season Sheppard has reached double figures in goals. Antti Laaksonen and Eric Nickulas added third period goals for Boston. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse Florida Clubhouse RECAPS Florida 6 Boston 3 AUDIO/VIDEO   Ray Whitney puts the puck past John Grahame for the score.avi: 528 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||