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Friday, Mar. 10 7:30pm ET
Thornton goal deflates Hurricanes | |||||
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BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Boston may have lost its veteran captain to a trade and several key players to injuries, but the Bruins aren't finished yet. "We've got a lot of young guys in here and everybody is stepping up and everybody is playing well," said Boston center Joe Thornton, whose power-play goal with 1:35 remaining helped the Bruins defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 Friday. "We've just got to play our hearts out every night now." The win snapped Boston's five-game losing streak and gave the Bruins only their second win in 11 games. It was the second game for Boston since veteran captain Ray Bourque was traded earlier this week to Colorado. The Bruins have also been playing without injured goaltender Byron Dafoe and forwards Jason Allison and Anson Carter. "We haven't had many breaks. I would have been again disappointed if we lost another game," said Boston coach Pat Burns. "We're playing on adrenaline right now." Brandon Smith, who was called up from Providence for his third stint in Boston last week, scored the first goal and assist of his career. "It's always nice to see a guy get his first goal. And it was a big goal for him," Thornton said. Carolina, which saw its three-game winning streak ended, needed the win to move into playoff contention. The Hurricanes led 3-2 in the third period when Boston erupted for three goals. A Smith assist allowed Shawn Bates to tie the score with his fourth goal of the season at 6:42 before Thornton's 18th goal, at 18:25, put the Bruins up 4-3. Thornton's goal came after a controversial roughing call against Carolina's Andrei Kovalenko. Both Kovalenko and Boston defenseman Kyle McClaren were pushed down onto the ice. "The only way you can possibly think about making that call is if the puck is sitting in the crease somewhere and you might get to it," said Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice. "That being said, unless you are 100 percent sure, you can't make that call." Boston had been unable to take advantage of the six previous one-man advantages and had converted only twice out of 53 power plays in the previous 13 games. Brian Rolston scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to seal the outcome. Boston took a 2-0 lead in the first period. Darren Van Impe, assisted by Smith, scored 2:58 into the game with a slap shot from outside the blue line that caught Hurricanes goalie Arturs Irbe outside the net. Van Impe had not scored since Jan. 24 against Calgary, a span of 17 games. Smith's unassisted goal, his first of the season, came on another slap shot from behind the blue line at 10:17. Irbe, who was just past the crease when the puck slipped by him, was pulled briefly and replaced by Mark Fitzpatrick. Irbe returned about a minute later. Gary Roberts cut Boston's lead to 2-1 on a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 12:13 of the first. When Bruins goaltender John Grahame shifted to the left, Roberts shot the puck past him into the unguarded side. Carolina tied the score 2-2 at 8:17 of the second period on another Roberts power-play goal. Jeff O'Neill's shot in the middle missed to the right, and Roberts redirected the rebound into the net. Robert Kron's 11th goal, off a pass from Marek Malik, then gave Carolina its 3-2 lead 2:05 into the third period. The Hurricanes have scored at least one power-play goal in their last five games. Ron Francis, who assisted on both of the power-play tallies Friday, has scored three goals and had eight assists during his six-game point-scoring streak. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse Carolina Clubhouse RECAPS Montreal 3 Buffalo 2
Boston 5
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