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  Thursday, Oct. 28 7:00pm ET
Andreychuk explodes for 4 goals
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

BOSTON (AP) -- Dave Andreychuk will remember Thursday night's four-goal game the same way he remembers the five goals he scored in one night almost 14 years ago: It could have been more.

Dave Andreychuk, Steve Heinze
Boston's Dave Andreychuk, right, celebrates after scoring his fourth goal of the game with teammate Steve Heinze in front of beleaguered Lightning goaltender Daren Puppa.

"Every chance that I get a shot on goal, I want to get a goal," he said after his outburst tied a Bruins franchise record and led Boston to a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"They don't come around too often, and it could be a long time before the next one comes around, a night like this."

It was Andreychuk's fourth career four-goal game, and his 11th time scoring at least three. He scored five times against Boston on Feb. 6, 1986, when he was playing for the Buffalo Sabres.

The Bruins, an Original Six team that has been in the NHL since 1924, have never had a player score five goals in a game. If it's going to happen, it could well be Andreychuk, who is tied with Stan Mikita for 18th on the NHL's all-time goal-scoring list with 541.

"It's bound to happen some time," Bruins forward Steve Heinze said. "He's one of those natural goal-scorers people talk about. He gets open, and you find him and put it on his stick, and he'll put it home."

Andreychuk scored twice in Boston's four-goal first period as the Bruins chased Darren Puppa. Ray Bourque had a goal and three assists and Jason Allison and Darren Van Impe had three assists apiece.

Rob Tallas stopped 22 shots for the Bruins, who won at home for the first time this season.

Puppa allowed three goals in only eight shots and was pulled after Andreychuk's second at 11:09 of the first. Kevin Hodson faced 18 shots and made 16 saves before Puppa came back out to start the third period; he faced 19 shots and made 14 saves in all.

The Bruins were winless in their first nine games -- their worst start since 1964-65 -- while missing starting goalie Byron Dafoe, a contract holdout, and their top goal-scorer from last year, Dmitri Khristich, who was set free after winning a $2.8 million arbitration award.

But they have won three consecutive games since then, going 2-2-2 on a road trip before returning for their first home win of the year. Tampa Bay has not beaten the Bruins in Boston in 11 tries (0-9-2).

The Lightning closed the locker room to reporters and had a 15-minute team meeting after the game. Afterward, coach Steve Ludzik complained about referees who gave Tampa Bay just one power play to Boston's six.

"I don't know if I've ever seen a team have only one penalty in the game," Ludzik said. "But how many teams spot the Boston Bruins four goals in their own building and come back the way we did."

The Bruins were 4-for-6 in power play opportunities -- 3-for-5 in the first period alone -- scoring both of their first two goals with Lightning defenseman Ben Clymer in the box.

Andreychuk made it 1-0 just 4:16 into the game with a wrist shot over Puppa's right shoulder. With Clymer serving another penalty, Bourque slapped one just inside the left post at the 9:54 mark.

The next time, Andreas Johansson was off for high-sticking when Andreychuk picked up a rebound on Allison's shot and backhanded it past Puppa to make it 3-0. Ludzik called a timeout and sent Hodson out.

But he didn't fare much batter, surviving just 22 seconds before Joe Thornton beat him to make it 4-0 and complete a three-goal outburst that took just 1:37.

Johansson made it 4-1 with 2:16 left in the first period, then Vincent Lecavalier and Stan Drulia scored to make it 4-3. But that lasted just 21 seconds before Andreychuk completed his hat trick.

"If we were playing against a team that could finish," Bruins coach Pat Burns said, "we would have been in trouble in that second period."

After Puppa came out to start the third period, Andreychuk added his fourth, and Boston's fourth power-play goal, when he tapped in a rebound at the 6:19 mark to make it 6-3. Steve Heinze made it 7-3, scoring on a rebound 7:37 into the third.
 


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RECAPS
Boston 7
Tampa Bay 3

Calgary 4
Ottawa 3

Philadelphia 5
Colorado 4

AUDIO/VIDEO
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 Dave Andreychuk with the slap shot.
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